Controlling
Your On-line Security
Your
best online defense is not necessarily your hardware but your
frame of mind.
While the greatest majority of identity
theft occurs through people rummaging through you trash for
credit card offers, or sales clerks making a copy of your
credit card for themselves, there are those that skim information
off the internet using techniques such as 'packet sniffing'.
If you're buying from an internet merchant
(and who doesn't these days!) be sure that when you get to
the 'checkout' area that the merchant is using a secure server.
The clue for that is that the beginning of the URL in your
web browser will start with the letters 'https' -that 's'
at the end indicates the server (and your transaction stream)
is secured through an encryption process.
Additionally, some experts recommend that
you not leave credit card information stored for future use
at the sites you buy from; based on past experience they
are at some risk for theft or disclosure.
It's been said before but it always bears
repeating: use long alphanumeric passwords for important
websites, like banks... and guard them closely.
And let's not forget about email. Email can deliver a virus or trojan
through attachments, or 'phish' for information freely given.
A good example of phishing comes as this
is being written - the IRS warns of an official looking online
'satisfaction survey'. With the official look and the promise
of $80 award, people are being duped into releasing sensitive
personal information. The clue is in the return address embedded
in the email header; the IRS says it never initiates contact
with you through e-mail.
And of course, there's the hard luck pitch.
Typically the hard luck pitch is a plea
from folks in faraway Nigeria, complete with a hard luck
story; a death in the family and millions of US dollars that
need to be transfered from one bank to another... and won't
you help them in exchange for a percentage of the funds?
I know it's hard to believe, but honest
folks actually respond to these, and often get caught up
'holding the bag' (and fiscal responsibility) by passing
phony travelers checks. The old saying comes to mind; "If
it sounds to good to be true...".
Your choice of operating systems also can
determine just how vigilant you must be.
Windows, by it's very nature is quite susceptible to outside influences
that can do several malicious things, including retrieving passwords
or sending information back over the internet without your knowledge.
Such malware or spyware can often be detected by anti-virus software,
but it's essential to update such programs on a frequent basis. Windows
also suffers security holes because it is adapted to run on hardware
made by a wide variety of makers, and thus Microsoft loses control
of an important part of the equation.
Macintosh's current operating system, OS
X, works on an entirely different premise than Windows, and
additionally, all the computers than run OS X are made by
one maker - Apple. While developers have identified potential
security loopholes, there been very few, if any successful
'hacks' into the OS. In fact, while there are a number of
anti-virus programs for Windows machines, there is only one
for the Mac.
It is important to note that the current
crop of Macs can run Windows at the same time it is running
the Mac OS - effectively giving the user the best(?) of both
worlds... and potentially, the worst of Windows. Mac users
running Windows on their machines must also run an anti-virus
program to protect the Windows side from vulnerabilities!
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