While I agree with your opening sentiment, and I agree regarding OP's dad not having the appropriate training and judgement, I disagree with the conclusion that he should be the resolution to that problem.
The appropriate training is nothing less than years of experience working with computers or being in the IT business. Why do we believe that this ought to be standard knowledge for users? It seems to me that we're placing too much burden on the user to make good judgements in the face of insufficient application and operating system trustworthiness.
The appropriate training has been given by me to the various family members I have to support. They started out just like his stepfather. It did not require them to have years of experience before they stopped trusting random websites, installing whatever came across their screen. It required me explaining the relevant concepts a few times. That was it.
We absolutely place too much burden on end-users -- one reason the iPad is such a hit -- but "don't believe everything you read on the Internet" and "ask me before you try to fix something you don't really understand" is not a heavy burden. If it were, we'd have a lot more mechanics and a lot fewer operable cars on the road.
The appropriate training is nothing less than years of experience working with computers or being in the IT business. Why do we believe that this ought to be standard knowledge for users? It seems to me that we're placing too much burden on the user to make good judgements in the face of insufficient application and operating system trustworthiness.