Internet Security ABC - Internet Privacy when You Have High Speed Internet Access

Internet Privacy when You Have High Speed Internet Access

The idea of Internet privacy is not a new one. Ever since the World Wide Web took off in popularity, there were those unsavory elements who sought to exploit it unscrupulously for personal gain. At times this meant hacking into an unsuspecting users computer system with the express goal of harvesting information such as credit card numbers and other information. At other times it may have been the surreptitious planting of a virus designed simply to destroy someone elses computer. No matter what kind of illicit activity may occur, the average computer user equates the term of Internet privacy with the promise of being able to anonymously surf the Net without encountering a variety of identity revealing or stealing

software.

There are several threats to Internet privacy. While not each threat is a serious one, they may turn from harmless to serious quickly, and it is imperative that computer users are aware of the online risks that limit privacy. This is especially the case for those computer users who are accessing the Internet with high speed access.

Probably the least dangerous of all the privacy limiting risks are cookies. No longer referring to chocolate chip treats, a computer cookie is a piece of HTTP data that is picked up in the process of browsing the Net and that is installed in a computers memory. While cookies have become an accepted way of doing business on the Internet, it is important to realize that they do open the door for personally identifiable information to be garnered by third parties without the express consent of the computer user. High-speed Internet users are at a particular risk of cookie abuse, simply because their connection is always open. Phishing is a relatively new term for an age-old crime.

Phishers use email to contact a large number of individuals under the guise of doing business on behalf of a popular merchant that many Internet users have accounts with. The criminals will go to great lengths to imitate the look and feel of a popular website to trick the Internet user into sharing her or his password, log in information, and also financially information. The phisher will then use this information to gain access to the users accounts, use her or his email address for spamming, or find enough personally identifiable data to successfully steal the users identity. Quite possibly the most annoying kind of attack on your Internet privacy is the presence of spyware. This kind of software will record a computer users web surfing activity and sometimes collect this information for third parties while other times use it to display unwanted pop-up ads in the users browser. The criminal elements who use spyware will seek to glean credit card information as it is entered by a user into a legitimate web form or credit card application online.

High-speed Internet users are at the added risk of falling victim to those who seek to infringe on Internet privacy simply because the connection is always open. There are several types of software available that will help computer users protect themselves against these attacks, but a lot of it comes down to common sense. Do not give out information via email simply because an official looking website asks for it. Instead contact the website independently and ask if the email is legit or a fake. More often than not you will find that such requests for information are spoof emails sent out in an effort to lure unsuspecting computer users to share sensitive information. Always update your anti-virus and anti-spyware software packages, and run sweeps of your system on a regular basis.

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Internet Security
◦ Are You an Enabler? What Enabling Cookies
◦ Can the Spam-How to Filter Out All the Unnecessary Junk
◦ Channel the Cookie Monster in You - Computer Cookies Can Be Bad For Your Computer's Health
◦ Chat Room Challenge - Five Tips to Ensure Your Anonymity
◦ Computer Band-aid - How to Know if You Need to Download that Security Patch
◦ Computer Deep Freeze - Ten Tips to Keep your PC Up and Running
◦ Computer Junkyard - Does Spam Filtering Really Help?
◦ Dial-Up vs. Broadband - Which is the Safer Alternative?
◦ Doesn't Ad up - Three Things that Adware does to your Computer
◦ Don't Click No! How to Safely Close those Pop-up Windows
◦ Don't Get Hacked Off-How to Stop Computer Interlopers in their Tracks
◦ Exercise Parental Control - Five Tips to Keep Kids Safe on the Internet
◦ Exterminate those Bugs on your PC
◦ Getting Down With Downloads - How to Protect Your Computer
◦ Hijacked at Home - Five Steps to Protect Your Home PC
◦ Identity Theft via Internet Security Flaws
◦ Inoculate Yourself against Computer Viruses
◦ Internet Anonymizers - Why and When You Should Use Them
◦ Key Logging Capers Part Two - Three Reasons why it is a Problem
◦ Key Logging Capers - Three Reasons Why You Need It
◦ Let's Go Phishing! - Five Ways to Avoid Being Hooked by This Scam
◦ Maintaining Your Privacy on the Internet - Five Things you can do
◦ Malicious Instant Messages-Three Ways Instant Messaging Compromises Internet Security
◦ Malware is bad for your Computer
◦ Picking Blackberries - Why Mobile Technology Needs More Security
◦ Pound Those Pop-Ups
◦ Six Tips for Staying Healthy in a Computer Virus World
◦ Something Doesn't Register - Cleaning your Computer's Registry for Safety
◦ Spies Everywhere - What is Spyware and Why is it so Bad?
◦ Squash those Worms - Four Ways to Keep your PC Critter-Free
◦ That Wasn't Scripted! Why Scripted Viruses are Bad News
◦ The Basics of Internet Website Encryption
◦ The Cookie Monster - How Do Cookies Influence Internet Security?
◦ The Digital Certificate - What's It Mean and Why is It Important?
◦ Three Benefits to Using an Internet Remailer
◦ Three Reasons to Wipe Your Computer's Internet History Files Clean
◦ Three Ways that an Internet Firewall Can Be Compromised
◦ Three Ways to Identify a Virus Hoax
◦ Three Ways to make sure your Online Credit Card Transaction is Safe
◦ Toolbar Traps - What You Should Know BEFORE Downloading that "Helpful" Toolbar
◦ Top Five Reasons to Install a Firewall
◦ Top Five Spyware Threats to Internet Security
◦ Top Five Vulnerable Areas in Internet Security
◦ Top Five Worst Viruses and How to Protect Your Computer against Them
◦ Top Four Ways to Ensure a Secure Password
◦ Top Ten Tools to Boost your Internet Security
◦ What IP Addresses Mean in the Scheme of Internet Security
◦ When Formatting the Hard Drive is Your Only Recourse

Internet Privacy
◦ Remote Access Trojans Hijacking your Computer
◦ Precautions You Should Take When Installing WiFi in your Home
◦ Sold! How to Maintain your Privacy and Still Indulge in Online Auctions
◦ Social Networking Be Careful of What You Post!
◦ Sneaky Ways to Get Around those Internet Privacy Issues

Identity Theft
◦ Electronic Mail Identity Theft
◦ Facts on Identity Theft
◦ Fighting Identity Theft

ID Theft

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