Garden Pests and Diseases: small red insect - need ID, 3 by vkeeney

vkeeney wrote:
I found these small red bugs on my squash plant and today I found several on my tomato plant. I googled it saturday and found conflicting information. One website said they were a beneficial insect possibly assasin bugs, while another forum said she was told they were assasin bugs only to find out too late they were some nymph of a bad insect. I have had a terrible time with squash bugs and cucumber beetles this season so I would like to identify and deal with whatever these are asap so any help would be appreciated.