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You'd never ask a convicted burglar to watch your house while you're away, and you'd never ask a known criminal to babysit your kids, right? So why, then, are you allowing identity thieves into your computer, giving them access to all your personal and financial information, right now - possibly even while you're reading these words?
"But wait a minute," you may be thinking. "My computer is perfectly safe and protected. I installed an anti-virus program two - maybe three - years ago."
Okay, let's assume your computer is protected at some level. How do you think your internet and computer protection ranks against such companies as Microsoft, Network Solutions, or even the U.S. Department of Defense - Department of Homeland Security? If you think they have better protection than you, which they obviously should, then you'll be disheartened to know that each of them had their network hacked in 2009, potentially exposing hundreds of thousands of people's personal information to identity thieves.
And these companies aren't alone. In 2009, hundreds of companies, from small hospitals to big corporations to top secret government agencies, have had their computers compromised. From January 2009 through November 2009, over 13.7 million Americans fell victim to identity thieves, resulting in financial losses totaling upwards of $50 billion.
To put it in a clearer perspective, approximately 7% of all adults have had their identities misused in 2009, with each instance resulting in approximately $3,500 in losses. Additionally, close to 100 million Americans have their personal identifying information placed at risk of identity theft each year when records maintained in government, corporate, and home computers and networks are lost or stolen. These alarming statistics show that identity theft may be the most frequent, costly, and pervasive crime in the United States.
One victim, Suzanne in San Diego, spent 600 hours and nearly $6,000 trying to clear her name when identity thieves stole her information from CitiBank and racked up thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges. But don't fool yourself into thinking that online thieves only go after big companies. The fact is that the favorite targets of online criminals are home and home office computers. Why? Two reasons: 1) These computers are usually not as protected as computers at big companies, and 2) These computers are often connected by broadband to the Internet - since the connection is always open, there is more opportunity to locate these computers with scanners and then break in.
So beware...YOU could be the next victim!
You Can Lower Your Risk of ID Theft
Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take at home, right now, to keep your computer safe and protect your personal information. Each of the following tips are super easy to do and very inexpensive (most are even free). Yet they can save you both time and money, and give you the peace of mind knowing your computer is safe and your personal information is protected.
o Install an anti-virus program. One of the key components to online safety is to have an anti-virus package. Even better is to get a suite that has anti-virus, anti-spyware, and a personal firewall. This way all the programs work together and don't interfere with each other. Regardless of which program you choose, it's best to purchase it from a traditional store or name-brand online retailer you trust rather than download the program from just any "discount" online store. Why? Because when you go to a website to download a program, you never know what you're really getting. There have been instances where people paid money for a downloadable anti-virus program, but what they really paid for was a program filled with viruses. So unless you're on the website of a well-known anti-virus company (and you're 100% certain it's their real site, not a site a criminal has mimicked), get the program at your local office supply store and install it from the disc in the box.
But simply installing the software isn't enough. You also want to go into the "Settings" tab of your program and make sure updates happen on a regular basis. This ensures your version of the product is the most up-to-date. Additionally, make sure scans are actually happening. You can set the scans to be done automatically at a certain time (highly recommended), or you can opt to manually initiate the scans.
o Update your applications. Identity thieves have learned that many people are getting better at downloading patches for their operating systems; however, they also know that most people don't patch their applications (their individual programs). As a result, ID thieves are attacking individual applications to get access to your computer. Some common applications that are being attacked include Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Apple QuickTime, Internet Browsers such as Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer, and many other applications you likely use every day.
Fortunately, many companies are releasing security patches for their applications on a regular basis. So you can go to each company's site directly and look for patches yourself. Another option is a program at www.secunia.com, which offers a software inspector for home users. You can do a scan online and they'll give you a list of the applications on your computer that are not secure. Then they will help you take the necessary steps to enhance your security. No matter how you choose to update your applications, the key is to do it.
o Use a firewall. Many home modems and routers have firewalls in them. Unfortunately, some of the best features of those firewalls are often turned off. You'll likely need an IT professional to help you determine the right settings for you. However, the good news is that something called Network Address Translation, or NAT, is usually automatically turned on and it basically hides the addresses of your devices from the outside world.
Realize that firewalls are often like Swiss cheese. They have to allow some information in and out of your computer; otherwise, you wouldn't be able to access the internet or your email. The challenge for your firewall is determining which information is okay to go in and out. This also means that if a friend or family member is in your house and installs something on your computer with a CD-ROM or DVD, your firewall has no chance of detecting that intrusion because that's not what it's designed for. So you can't just say that you have a firewall and trust it to catch everything.
If you have a small business or if you do stock trading or banking online, you may want to augment the simple firewall that comes in your device with an additional firewall you can purchase, which is much more robust. These devices have extra tools in them that allow the firewall to do its job better. You can also use a program running on your computer, called a software firewall. An example would be the firewall that comes with your operating system or one that comes with an anti-virus package suite. Whatever additional firewall protection you give yourself, the harder you make it for identity thieves to get in and steal your data.
Stay Safe Today
Just as you lock your car when it's parked and you secure your home when you leave for the day, you need to proactively protect your computer. The good news is that staying safe online can be just as simple and second nature as protecting everything else in your life. Start with these three easy solutions. Once you're done, you can move on to other aspects of computer and online safety found in the short and simple videos at www.learntobesafeonline.com. By doing so, you can keep yourself from being the next identity theft victim and save yourself a lot of frustration and thousands of dollars. The choice is yours: do nothing and be a victim, or take action now and reduce your risk. Which do you choose?
Go to http://www.learntobesafeonline.com/ to view free and informative videos on how to protect yourself from online fraud, cyber attacks, phishing schemes, identity theft, and much more. Since we all use the Internet, shouldn't it be a safe place to work, learn, and play? Mike Foster is recognized by many as America's IT Security Specialist and is committed to helping people stay safe online.
I work from my home, the most peaceful workplace I can think of so far. As a Homemaker and part time Freelance Writer, I submit articles and subscribe to various respectable writing newsletters and do endless research online. But before signing up, I read privacy policies, some brief while others boringly lengthy.
I am just one among millions of unknown but honest Internet users. Why, to my mind, would I worry so much about anyone in the Internet community making me a target for nasty tricks or harassments?
Nonetheless, I feel safe just knowing that the websites that interest me run a committed sense of policy on security.
But when my computer screen started flashing as if gasping for air and slowly died down months ago, I blamed electric current fluctuations. But when my files disappeared and my computer turned alarmingly uncooperative, I referred the case to the expert, my husband.
For the first time, I was hit by a computer virus.
It was not as simple as unplugging the computer connection, sleeping on it for a few days while a computer surgeon works on the damage so everything could be good as new.
I saw months of hard work on research, completed manuscripts stashed in my hard disk, long hours spent online, time, money, and effort my spouse has invested in setting up the whole system, all go down the drain and turn into nothingness.
Going through the process of repair and reconstruction is painfully tedious, time consuming, and costly.
I was angry. I took it as an attack on my person. The perpetrator has no heart.
A series of disturbing yet quite interesting cyber intrusions that followed prodded me to quench my curiosity and do a personal research on what inspires the behavior behind the waste of skill, time and resources involved in these damaging cyber pursuits and other elctronic petty crimes that make life miserable for honest internet users.
CYBER OFFENDERS
Anyone who enters your home without your consent is committing an offense theoretically. Your computer system is an extension of your boundaries and must not be infringed. When someone gains unauthorized access to your computer in any manner or utilizes the computer technology in performing a felony, he/she commits a cyber crime.
The Hacker is always the first person that comes to mind in relation to cyberspace violations. After all, who else can be as knowledgeable and bold enough to break into someone else's computer system?
Hackers used to have nobler objectives for their being. In the earlier days of the Computer technology, they were the computer experts/geniuses who tested computer systems, with the owners' consent, for loopholes and recommended better programs or fixed the errors themselves to frustrate any effort to exploit the defective system by more dangerous 'creatures.' They even had the Hackers' Code of Ethics.
There are two types of Hackers: The Ethical Pros, the highly skilled professionals who hire out their skills to organizations concerned about their own network's safety. They represent Hackers of earlier generation. The other type is the CyberRambos or plain crackers-despised by the Elite Hackers, Crackers crack/break systems for superficial reasons. (UC San Diego Psycho. Dept.: Computer & Network Resources)
But by what many Hackers have become these days, it is difficult to ascribe their destructive behaviors to nobility instead of outright violation.
And by whatever name they are called, these cyber felons have become simply faceless and nameless 'hackers' to their victims.
ON MOTIVES
An online article by David Benton entitled: 'What's Inside a Cracker?' from SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Information Security Reading Room, states seven psychological profiles of malicious hackers as documented by Canadian Psychologist Marc Rogers M.A., Graduate Studies, Dept. of psychology, university of Manitoba and a former Police Computer Crimes Investigator:
Newbie/Tool Kit (NT): new to hacking, have limited computer/programming proficiencies; rely on ready-made pieces of software (tool kits) that are readily available in the Internet;
Internals (IT): disgruntled employees or ex-employees proficient in how the company's internal systems work;
Coders (CD) and Virus Writers: programmers who'd like to see themselves as elite; they write codes but not for personal use. They have their own networks to experiment with "zoos." They leave to others to introduce their codes into the "wild" or Internet. (Hacker Psych 101 by Jeremy Quittner);
Cyber-Punks (CP): antisocial geeks, the most visible, socially inept, and burdened with unresolved anger that they take into cyberspace; they relate better to computers than humans and have better computer skills and some programming capabilities; capable of writing their own software, they intentionally engage in malicious acts such as defacing web pages, spamming, credit card number theft, etc.;
Old Guard Hackers (OG): have no criminal intent in its real sense but display an alarming disrespect for personal property with great interest in intellectual endeavo;.
Professional Criminals (PC) and Cyber Terrorists (CT): most dangerous; They are professional criminals and ex-intelligence operatives who are guns for hire. They specialize in corporate espionage, are extremely well trained and have access to state of the art equipments;
Further, Rogers pointed out that not all Hackers are criminals. He has categorized them as follows: (Jeremy Quittner, Hacker Psych 101);
Old School Hackers: akin to the 1960s style computer programmers from Stanford MIT for whom it is an honor to be a hacker; interested in analyzing systems with no criminal intent; they believe the Internet was designed to be an open system;
Script Kiddies/ Cyber -Punks: wannabe hackers and crackers; use other Cracking programs carelessly with the intent to vandalize and corrupt systems; often caught red-handed because they brag their exploits online.
Professional Criminals: breaking into systems and selling information Is their livelihood; they get hire for espionage; often have ties with organized Criminal groups; not interested in disrupting systems but more on stealing intelligence data;
The list of motives is endless: boredom, illicit thrill, addiction, blackmail or low self esteem, and a desperate need for recognition from the hacker peer group, all cowardly performed under the protection of anonymity.
"Underlying the psyche of criminal hackers may be a deep sense of inferiority. The mastery of the computer technology or the shut down of a major site causing millions of dollars of damage is real power trip." (J. Quittner, Hacker Psych 101, Hackers: Computer Outlaws)
Jarrold M. Post, a George Washington University Psychiatrist says: It's (Hackers) a population that takes refuge in computers because of their problems sustaining real world relationships."
The less information you share in the Internet the better. But as computer wizards, Hackers will always find ways to reconstruct your identity even with very little details in their possession.
However, there are varied ways by which you, a legitimate Internet user can be protected. Know the warning signs and get educated on how to thwart any attempt to victimize you. Don't take the wired blows sitting down.
"Constant awareness and updating of knowledge is the best defense to any attack," wrote Shayne Gregg, CA (NZ), CISA, CMC, in 'A Response to Recent Cyber Attacks.' (Information Systems Audit & Control Association InfoBytes)
I recommend The Complete Idiot's Guide to: Protecting Yourself Online by Preston Gralla, Executive Editor, ZDNet. It is comprehensive, easy to understand, and a must for every Internet user's library.
HACKERS, CYBERPUNKS, et al
Cyber Crime is not monopolized by hackers or crackers. The pedophile, thief or drug dealer in your community who hire computer experts to carry out their illegal activities online are as guilty and despicable.
Just like the criminals roaming out in the real world, Cyber felons are a bunch of psychologically imbalanced and misguided citizens who happen to have the dexterity to commit electronic transgressions or hire a computer expert to do the job and will never get enough despite their Cyber Glory and 'conquests.'
Still the tendency to commit a crime lies hidden in wholesome images, while the unsuspecting is often caught by surprise. What you don't see is sometimes what you get.
Hackers cannot be strictly stereotyped. Peter Shipley, Chief Security architect for the Big Five firm KPMG avers: "I know a lot of hackers, including one who spends an hour and a half in the gym everyday. He is built. I know of women who are knock-down gorgeous who are hackers."
No Exceptions
Whenever high tech-crazed folks travel through your wires to make your computer system malfunction, steal your identity or get paid to give you trouble, it's a sign that you do not take the needed precaution whenever you log in.
When I asked myself quietly back then "Why me?" I guess the reply would be "And why not?" As with most inventions, the Internet is being abused and mishandled. And as always, a helpless victim completes the drama.
Anyone can be a casualty at random regardless if one is honest, educated, high profile, residing at the far end of the globe or a Stay-at-Home- Mom working hard and peacefully from her abode.
Hackers won't care how his/her prey will feel.
But I am still hoping that such an impressive brainwork will be put to good use by present day hackers, just how their predecessors intended Hacking to be used.
