The Internet today is very popular and is being used in every nook and corner of the world. Internet has become so common and widespread that it has penetrated deeply into the everyday life of each and every individual. However, like all technologies, advantages and disadvantages do co-exist with each other.
The Internet has become so accessible and so huge in demand, that it is only befitting and timely to warn the common user about the shortcomings of this WWW technology. Unlike the physical world, the internet has no concrete methods to prevent misuse. Cyber Laws are at the most nascent stage and may take a long time to get established. In the meanwhile unscrupulous persons are taking advantage of the peoples' want for more technology.
The most common dangers associated with the Internet are spreading of rumors through email or blogs or social networking, dissemination of mischievous and malicious posts, stealing of vital personal and financial information and perpetration of frauds.
The trouble with internet is that many people of many different cultures access the globe are united together and these cultural divides do bring about issues. People who access the Internet often do so thinking they are secure. They don't realize how much people really know about them. When you access a site on the World Wide Web, you give away your IP address to the site. Your IP address is a unique number that identifies you when you are on the Internet. With this information, the site can find out your e-mail address, what ISP you use, where your ISP is located and some ISP s might also reveal where you re dialing from.
With your e-mail address the site might target you with constant e-mail advertisements. Web sites can also send out cookies to your computer. A cookie is a small text file which can hold information about which sites you visit as well as any other information that you supplied or the site discovered. Malicious users might use your IP address to exploit security holes in your web browser or in your operating system. These often crash your computer and in some cases they can access information on your computer s memory or hard drive.
With people depending on the internet for all their financial and business transactions, the risks are much more than stealing of information etc. Heavy financial loss can be the result if financial and business transactions are not carried out through properly encrypted websites with SSL.
Internet has more dangerous perils in hiding than the most treacherous jungles and the user needs to exercise caution, diligence and adherence to safety precautions in order not to fall into the traps and baits.
It is always advisable to install proper licensed Anti Virus programs, Anti-malware, scare-ware and adware protection etc to prevent unpleasant experiences.
Kannan Krishnamani (Nickname: Capricorn)
