Tips on Improving Internet Security

A main concern of those who have come to think of their computer as their lifeline to the world is Internet Security. Many programs have been designed to prevent hacking and identity theft, but for many the solution comes too late. However, there are many things individuals can do to ensure their safety while working and playing on the worldwide web.

The compromise of, supposedly, secure websites is an ever-growing problem. During such times personal data is often stolen and accounts are vulnerable to theft. However, this is not as common as one might think. More common occurrences are attacks by sites like spyware or look-alike sites that end up collecting personal data such as email addresses and login information. Since it often happens to individuals rather than groups, it makes many people extremely nervous when putting personal information online.

Internet security can be vulnerable to today's high-tech crackers, but it's important to remember that there are laws in place to protect individuals. Additionally, individual web-based companies are working overtime to protect those visiting their sites. Hackers test the vulnerability of systems and then find ways to overcome weaknesses. Although they have gotten a bad reputation over time, in actuality they are hired by companies to ensure software is hack-proof prior to release.

Crackers are the ones that need to be caught. These are the people who find the backdoors in systems and then exploit these weaknesses for personal gain. Their access is usually covert and illegal and they are usually professionals that specialize in creating viruses that eat security systems. For the most, few get caught until they get greedy. This new type of hacker took the industry unprepared and, although originally with the goal of just seeing if they could access highly protected systems, it wasn't long before they started attacking individual users. Since they first appeared, many anti-hacking laws have been implemented, yet catching them has become a full-time job that generates few results.

Although protecting personal data is difficult, there are several things individuals can do to protect themselves. First and foremost is to limit the amount of information that's input into web-based systems. Additionally, unless a site is well-known, don't trust it. It's better to make a phone call than to order something online and give so much information that identity can be stolen. Finally, one of the most blatant errors people make is not reading the fine print before they hit "I agree." If the contract has grammar and spelling errors it's probably fraudulent.

There are many other ways to improve Internet Security and knowing the laws and how to protect one's self is important. The web has created many opportunities, but it has also made everyone online vulnerable to identify theft. The best way to increase protection is to become knowledgeable about weaknesses in the system as well as to always use caution.

For more information on Internet Security, visit one of the many different portals for internet security that can be found on the internet. Many of these contain databases with listings of security software solutions.

Internet Cafe Safety - Protect Your Online Identity

This article is primarily intended for travellers on their round the world trip, Gap Year or Sabbatical. Travellers are often the most vulnerable, being in a foreign land with limited funds with only the use of public internet facilities to contact family and friends. They are often advised by travel websites and fellow travellers to take copies of their itineraries, photo copy of passwords, emergency contact numbers, travellers cheques numbers, etc. in their email accounts so in the case of an emergency these details are available.

Internet Cafe's are often frequented by travellers and normal folk alike to update their blogs, pay bills and keep in touch with friends and family. Hopefully over the course of this article, it will educate the traveller and other users of public internet services about some of the possible risks associated with using these services.

so what are the potential risks?

Hackers can easily exploit public internet facilities where the desktop machines are not hardened (i.e. not fully patched with the latest security updates, anti-virus products, firewalls, unrestricted admin access etc).

In vulnerable environments hackers can install keylogging software / hardware keyloggers to capture keystrokes typed on a keyboard. If you enter credentials to log into email, the keystrokes entered into the keyboard whilst entering the credentials are logged. This allows the hackers to review the keylogger logs to extract your credentials. The hacker can then log into you email and peruse at their leisure sifting through your emails for sensitive data that can be used for criminal activity (identity theft etc). There is a suggestion that using a virtual keyboard can be used to defeat keyloggers. Whilst this may be true for hardware keyloggers, sophisticated software keyloggers can still capture the keyboard input of virtual keyboards.

Another tool hackers can install are Network Sniffers / Protocol analysers. This software will capture data packets to and from the workstation (data on the wire!). Therefore if you are using Instant Messaging / Email and are sending and receiving messages, the sent messages is converted to data packets if sent, and converted from data packets to messages if received (simplified view of what happens). This happens as the messages leave or enters the computer. Network sniffers capture the data while they are in the form of data packets. Anything not encrypted can be read by the hacker. Therefore a email / Instant messaging conversation that exchange sensitive information can be captured and sifted through by the hacker (to glean information to support criminal activities).

The non technical scam used by the the hacker is shoulder surfing, where your the hacker looks at your keyboard while you are entering your credentials when logging into a website or bank to uncover the password.

These are just some of the many techniques used by hackers to extract sensitive data. Some practical countermeasures are discussed in cyber cafe safety. Also accompany this with safe travel advice to ensure you are safe both online and offline whilst travelling.