Internet Security and Prevention of Personal Data Theft
Who can you trust? With the Internet expanding at an alarming rate, there are some places on the web that resemble a dark alley: an area you simply wouldn’t step foot in for fear of personal safety. But it’s hard to know when you should be aware of your personal information being stolen; You may think you’re safe, but there are a large number of people every day whose identity is stolen without warning.
What can be done in such a globalized environment; where someone half a hemisphere away can take you to the dry cleaners overnight? Be informed. Be conscious. Know the following tips and your identity will never be stolen.
Number one places where you can lose your identity
One of the biggest problems in Internet security is how easy it is to get someone’s email address. There are a number of email spoofs that can take away your credit card number in the blink of an eye. These are:
– Paypal email spoofs
– E-bay email spoofs
– Tricks, like those emails claiming to be a long lost third uncle or cousin to some big figurehead in a third world country, and they want to give you $4,000,000 or some ridiculous figure.
If you know what to watch out for, it definitely helps. Never send anyone any sensitive personal data in an email; not even if they say they are Paypal, E-bay or some other trusted company. No one should ask you for something like your driver’s license, social security card, or credit card over email.
A fake Paypal site can steal your Paypal login information by simply asking you to enter your username and password as usual; but you’re not actually sending it to Paypal, you’re sending it to scammers so they can steal your account information and of course your personal information like credit cards. Never login to Paypal except anywhere else, so http://www.paypal.com
In fact, if you use a spam blocking utility like Qurb, it makes a world of difference. You may still get a weird scam or two, but you’ll be able to tell now that you know what they look like.
The next avenue of personal data theft revolves around…
Pop-ups, unsafe URLs, and third-party installers
The next area where personal data theft can occur is simply being in the wrong place (and not even necessarily at the wrong time!). While most pop-ups and URLs are safe, there are some forms of malware. known as “automatic installers” or “self-installing software”. You can recognize what I mean by this if you’re using Internet Explorer and have some toolbars at the top that you know you didn’t put there or just can’t get rid of. That’s an example of self-installing executables: they install themselves without asking you.
Some of this software is harmful, but most know it to be ad-ware/spyware most of the time. It’s just blatant advertising, but the worst self-installing software can access your cookies and try to transfer that data to a remote server.
So how to avoid this garbage?
Easy: Use Firefox, or if you run into persistent popups, get a popup blocker. DO NOT get a third party program – get something reputable like Google Toolbar, because a third party “pop-up blocker” can ALSO be a form of spyware/ad-ware if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You can also keep some basic adware/spyware prevention tools on your system. Avast Anti-virus is excellent at detecting an automatic installation script and closing it before it completes. So is Microsoft Antispyware, in case you have a genuine version of Windows. Routine scans with a program like Lavasoft ad-aware or other good spyware/ad-ware suites will also help.
And the last place your credit card or debit card information can be stolen is at your local store. If someone ever drops your card while you’re handing it back to you, make sure when they reach down they’re just retrieving your card. Cases have been reported where merchants (especially disgruntled gas station workers) have “dropped” a card only to swipe it through another machine below.
While you are less likely to be scammed locally, there is still a chance that a worker unhappy with your earnings will take your card information and generate some bills in your name. Usually, though, people who attempt this type of scam pile up small bills into a large number of accounts to avoid the customer noticing.
Don’t worry, and don’t get paranoid. The first step in preventing personal data theft is awareness. If you’re smarter about the safe and unsafe world, you’ll spot scams early on. It can even be profitable for a company like Paypal to know who the counterfeiters are, if you take a minute to report them. [email protected]
Remember, you, the user, control your level of security on the Internet. There is no one to blame when data theft happens, except yourself.