In the Jan. 11, 2013 issue of SANS NewsBites, editor Brian Honan writes:

It seems each time a zero day exploit is found in software, be that Java or otherwise, the industry pundits recommend that people stop using that software.  New vulnerabilities will always be discovered in the software we use.  If our best defence to a threat is to cause a denial-of-service on ourselves then this in the long term is a no-win strategy for us as an industry.

In this case, the advice was to disable the Java plugin in the browser, which, in fairness, is something many users could do without impact. Still, I couldn’t agree more with Honan’s comment. Here are a few other examples of common advice from security professionals and journalists that contradicts the way software is designed to be used:

• Don’t click on links in email messages (even though email software automatically adds links to URLs for convenience).
• Don’t install Android apps from anywhere other than the official app store(s) (thus negating one of the advantages of an open platform without a central gatekeeper).
• Don’t click on ads (which most Web businesses depend upon for revenue).

As Honan says, we have to find a better way to protect our users and our systems than saying “don’t use technology the way it’s designed to be used.” His comment goes on to point to the CSIS Twenty Critical Security Controls, which are great guidelines for large and/or high security organizations. For consumers and small businesses, though, we’ll need to look to other answers: increased industry cooperation and law enforcement to reduce the threat, improved interfaces and signals to help users make safer choices, more secure architectures, and so on.