Brain Krebs of Washington Post has been writing an investigative series about organized cyber crime gangs stealing millions of dollars from small to mid-sized businesses. His series have generated more than a few responses all asking how best to protect themselves from this type of fraud.

In response to the above question Brain says, “The simplest, most cost effective answer I know of? Don’t use Microsoft Windows when accessing your bank account online.” He further adds that he doesn’t offer this recommendation lightly, all of the attacks shared a single, undeniable common denominator: They succeeded because the bad guys were able to plant malicious software that gave them complete control over the victim’s Windows computer. Today, all of the data stealing malware in circulation is built to attack Windows systems.

In the article he also talks about report published by Security Fix, the SANS Technology Institute that offers the cheapest and most foolproof solution, which is to use a read-only bootable operating system, such as Knoppix, or Ubuntu also known as “Live CDs”. At the end Brain says, “Of course, a Mac computer would probably work just as well, but the focus here is on Windows users who may be looking for a cheap way to harden their existing setup to avoid malicious software.” For that problem Live CD is a quick and cheap solution.

In the article on Washington Post, Brain talks about various companies and banks, and different cases he investigated while writing the articles. It’s a very interesting read.