In the world today and cyber space especially, danger lurks behind every corner, every email attachment. With all the way hackers can gain access to your PC and information its like playing Russian Roulette when you get onto the Internet.
Hackers have ways of creating various scripts to make exploits and attach them to websites, ads, email attachments and so much more. Every time you browse to a website or URL even if its one that you use all the time and have never had any problems with, theres the chance that something is attached to it and when you go there, your information is readily accessible to the person on the other end.
Security of your information has been a talked about topic since computers were invented. With the Internet and wealth of knowledge freely available at your fingertips just about anyone can steal someone Credit Card numbers, Social Security Information and more. Most of this is stored on your computer, whether it be Cookies(information stored for websites on your computer) or just files you have made yourself. People can gain access very easily to this information. The best way to protect yourself is to use common sense. While there are very good programs out there that can help detect and deter you from threats, none of those programs can think exactly like a human and see what is going in a scenario.
The most common way that identity theft can occur is an email message. Most people how are behind these scams send you a legit looking email from a financial institution asking for your information. A lot of time it will provide a link to website so you can provide this when the real case is that it looks like a legit website but it just keep tracks of what you enter and emails it to them. Be sure to check your banks policies on how they go about collecting your information, chances are they never use email. Its best to call the institution directly to update any information or if you are lenient about the message. They should never ask for your account information or social security number through email. If you happen to receive one of these emails its best to ignore it and call if you have questions.
Secondly, you are able to use some of these programs that help detect tracking cookies and threats. Programs like Ad-Aware, Malware Bytes, CCleaner and a Firewall program are all very good programs that I use regularly. They scan your computer for files that hackers typically use to “mark” the scripts they use to gain this information. These programs scan your computer and alert you of their presence and location. A lot of time you can delete these before to much harm is done.
A good program and some common sense and you can be browsing wherever. Its good to stay away from site that’s give you security warnings, or a lot of pop ups because access to your computer can be gained through those as well. Stay safe and happy browsing!
- Seth Hall