All About Safety Handouts

People are more dependent that ever on their computers these days. Not only do most people have a computer at work, but they also have at least one compute at home. In fact, an increasing number of families have computers that are truly personal; meaning each person in the family has their own. Norton Internet Security is a program that helps computer users to safeguard against internet security breaches.
The fact is that as computers have become more omnipresent in businesses and homes, the thieves, con men and criminals have become better and better at finding ways to circumvent internet safety protocols so that they can invade your computer and access your personal files and your personal data. Because of this, there is a flourishing computer internet security software industry that is designed to help computer users stay one step ahead of the bad guys who would like to take advantage of people who are not as internet savvy and who are not aware of the internet threats out there.
The Norton Internet Security brand of software has long been rated as one of the best programs for internet security protection. Norton has been in business for over 20 years and has been providing some of the best quality and most innovative software packages to help computer users keep their machines running in tip-top condition.
As the internet came along, along with the many internet threats, such as computer viruses and spyware, Norton kept up with internet security trends and as a result, the company developed their security package. Because of their long history in making excellent software utility programs, Norton has quickly become one of the most trusted names in the software publishing industry and is considered a leader in protection internet security these days.
The most popular version of the Norton software for internet safety is the package that retails for about $60 and that will protect up to three computers in a household. This package includes both antivirus functions, as well as spyware detection. These are two of the most basic and most important functions that should be included in internet security systems.
In addition, this reasonably priced Norton internet safety utility package also included a two-way firewall. This firewall software can boost and enhance any other firewall software that might be on your system and it is important because it can detect and prevent any kind of unauthorized access to your computer from potentially harmful websites.
The Norton security package also includes an anti-spam module, as well as parental controls that give the parents the ability to lock access to certain internet sites so that youngsters do not have access to inappropriate material or content online. This feature can also be used to protect specific files or folders on the computer so that they are not inadvertently deleted or changed by a curious child.
Similar to most of the other internet security software packages on the market today, the Norton Internet Security program is constantly being updated, improved and updated to keep up with new internet threats and to improve performance. Regularly using Norton’s internet safety program will allow monitoring of email and instant messaging, assuring that viruses don’t sneak into your system through these functions, thus providing an even better degree of security for your computers.
Mike Selvon has some great informative articles. If you enjoyed this article, please visit his website for part 2 on Norton internet security, and also learn more insider internet safety tips.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

If your son or daughter is a recently high school graduate and college freshman, he or she is the ideal target cybercriminals are looking. “Why?” you might ask. For cybercriminals the answer is easy and highly profitable. Recent high school graduates and college freshmen provide extremely lucrative opportunities for the cybercriminals to obtain their personal information. Even before they start their first careers, these graduates and college students may be crippled by identity theft.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the US government agency charged with monitoring identity thefts and related frauds, identity theft complaints reported to them from 2003 through 2005, nearly 30 percent of victims each year were ages 18 to 29.
And according to Ms Michelle Boykins, spokesperson for the National Crime Prevention Council in Washington, college students are the prime target for these cybercriminals because the students are often just starting to use credit and/or pay bills for the first time.
Colleges of all sizes are working to protect their students’ identities. Broward Community College, for example, has recently introduced unique personal identification numbers for students, replacing their Social Security numbers. And campuses are including information about identity theft on their Web sites, at orientation, and in special presentations.
The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor lures students to an online quiz of security questions with a chance to win prizes, including iPods. Mr. Paul Howell, Chief Information Technology Security Officer, reported that they are always trying to think of creative and productive ways to engage students.
Further, Mr. Howell advises students to limit the personal information they post online, particularly on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook. Additionally, students should know they can restrict their details or remove themselves from the university’s online directory that is available to the worldwide public 24/7.
Although prevention is the best form of protection, there are several steps students can take to protect themselves from cybercriminals. If they suspect that their identities have been stolen, then they are urged to call one of the three major credit-reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on their information. Doing so will enable them to be contacted should an identity thief tries to use their details. Students need only notify one of the credit companies, Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, because the initial company will inform the other two.
Because cyberpredators and other cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy and those of your children. If you use a computer and are connected to the internet, your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk. These cybercriminals leave you with three choices:
(1) Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
(2) Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
(3) Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Safety Advocate, recommends to individuals and small business owners the protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) package he uses. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Sometimes scammers, clever and scheming vultures they are, may not immediately prey on you for your financial contribution. They may have something more deadly in mind – deadly to you, your computer, and the computers of all your friends. Once the scammers establishes a relationship with you, he/she knows that your email address is a “live” address (one that will give him and others he will sell your address to) so he can secretly then move on to phase two – flooding you and all the other “live” addresses he obtained with hoaxes and chain letters.
And, sadly, these emails and chain letter emails carry hidden spyware (pieces of coding that will allow the originator to take control of all the computers it touches). The code is so written that even if the email is deleted, it will still work effectively from the Recycle Bin. That’s the work of scammer who are also hackers.
What Are Internet Hoaxes and Chain Letters? Internet hoaxes and chain letters are e-mail messages written with one purpose; to be sent to everyone you know. The messages they contain are usually untrue. A few of the sympathy messages do describe a real situation but that situation was resolved years ago so the message is not valid and has not been valid for many years. Hoax messages try to get you to pass them on to everyone you know using several different methods of social engineering. Most of the hoax messages play on your need to help other people.
Who wouldn’t want to warn their friends about some terrible virus that is destroying people’s systems? Or, how could you not want to help this poor little girl who is about to die from cancer? It is hard to say no to these messages when you first see them, though after a few thousand have passed through your mail box, you (hopefully) delete them without even looking.
Chain letters are lumped in with the hoax messages because they have the same purpose as the hoax messages but use a slightly different method of coercing you into passing them on to everyone you know. Chain letters, like their printed ancestors, generally offer luck or money if you send them on. They play on your fear of bad luck and the realization that it is almost trivial for you to send them on. The chain letters that deal in money play on people’s greed and are illegal no matter what they say in the letter.
The Risk and Cost of Hoaxes: The cost and risk associated with hoaxes may not seem to be that high, and isn’t when you consider the cost of handling one hoax on one machine. However, if you consider everyone that receives a hoax, that small cost gets multiplied into some pretty significant costs. For example, if everyone on the Internet were to receive one hoax message and spend one minute reading and discarding it, the cost would be something like: 50,000,000 people times 1/60 hour times $50/hour = $41.7 million
Most people have seen far more than one hoax message and many people cost a business far more than $50 per hour when you add in benefits and overhead. The result is not a small number.
Probably the biggest risk for hoax messages is their ability to multiply. Most people send on the hoax messages to everyone in their address books but consider if they only sent them on to 10 people. The first person (the first generation) sends it to 10, each member of that group of 10 (the second generation) sends it to 10 others or 100 messages and so on.
Generations and (Number of Messages): 1st (10); 2nd (100); 3rd (1,000); 4th (10,000); 5th (100,000); and 6th (1,000,000)
As you can see, by the sixth generation there are a million e-mail messages being processed by mail servers. The capacity to handle these messages must be paid for by the users or, if it is not paid for, the mail servers slow down to a crawl or crash. Note that this example only forwards the message to 10 people at each generation while people who forward real hoax messages often send them to many times that number.
Recently, we have been hearing of spammers (bulk mailers of unsolicited mail) harvesting e-mail addresses from hoaxes and chain letters. After a few generations, many of these letters contain hundreds of good addresses, which is just what the spammers want. We have also heard rumors that spammers are deliberately starting hoaxes and chain letters to gather e-mail addresses (of course, that could be a hoax). So now, all those nice people who were so worried about the poor little girl dying of cancer find themselves not only laughed at for passing on a hoax but also the recipients of tons of spam mail.
How to Recognize a Hoax: Probably the first thing you should notice about a warning is the request to “send this to everyone you know” or some variant of that statement. This should raise a red flag that the warning is probably a hoax. No real warning message from a credible source will tell you to send this to everyone you know.
Next, look at what makes a successful hoax. There are two known factors that make a successful hoax, they are: (1) technical sounding language. and (2) credibility by association.
If the warning uses the proper technical jargon, most individuals, including technologically savvy individuals, tend to believe the warning is real. For example, the Good Times hoax says that “…if the program is not stopped, the computer’s processor will be placed in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop which can severely damage the processor…”. The first time you read this, it sounds like it might be something real. With a little research, you find that there is no such thing as an nth-complexity infinite binary loop and that processors are designed to run loops for weeks at a time without damage.
When we say credibility by association we are referring to who sent the warning. If the janitor at a large technological organization sends a warning to someone outside of that organization, people on the outside tend to believe the warning because the company should know about those things. Even though the person sending the warning may not have a clue what he is talking about, the prestige of the company backs the warning, making it appear real. If a manager at the company sends the warning, the message is doubly backed by the company’s and the manager’s reputations.
Both of these items make it very difficult to claim a warning is a hoax so you must do your homework to see if the claims are real and if the person sending out the warning is a real person and is someone who would know what they are talking about. You do need to be a little careful verifying the person as the apparent author may be a real person who has nothing to do with the hoax. If thousands of people start sending them mail asking if the message is real, that essentially constitutes an unintentional denial of service attack on that person. Check the person’s web site or the person’s company web site to see if the hoax has been responded to there. Check these pages or the pages of other hoax sites to see if we have already declared the warning a hoax.
Hoax messages also follow the same pattern as a chain letter. Chain letters and most hoax messages all have a similar pattern. From the older printed letters to the newer electronic kind, they all have three recognizable parts: (1) A hook. (2) A threat. and (3) A request.
The Hook: First, there is a hook, to catch your interest and get you to read the rest of the letter. Hooks used to be “Make Money Fast” or “Get Rich” or similar statements related to making money for little or no work. Electronic chain letters also use the “free money” type of hooks, but have added hooks like “Danger!” and “Virus Alert” or “A Little Girl Is Dying”. These tie into our fear for the survival of our computers or into our sympathy for some poor unfortunate person.
The Threat: When you are hooked, you read on to the threat. Most threats used to warn you about the terrible things that will happen if you do not maintain the chain. However, others play on greed or sympathy to get you to pass the letter on. The threat often contains official or technical sounding language to get you to believe it is real.
The Request: Finally, the request. Some older chain letters ask you to mail a dollar to the top ten names on the letter and then pass it on. The electronic ones simply admonish you to “Distribute this letter to as many people as possible.” They never mention clogging the Internet or the fact that the message is a fake, they only want you to pass it on to others.
Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk. These cybercriminals leave you with three choices:
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
Resource Box:
Related story: Index of Hoaxes
Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other cybercrimes and pc-disabling issues. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

While surfing the ‘net, I came across a report about the reduction of identity theft and identity fraud. Obviously, it caught my attention. Following, in part, is that report which was produced by Javelin Strategy & Research, and co-sponsored by CheckFree Corporation, Visa Card, and Wells Fargo & Co.
While identity theft remains a multi-billion-dollar problem for businesses, organizations, and individuals, incidents of the fraud dropped significantly last year, according to a report.
Identity fraud occurring in the United States declined in 2006 by 12 percent over the year before, from $55.7 billion to $49.3 billion, according to the third-annual survey by Javelin Strategy & Research. The survey, which involved 5,000 telephone interviews, estimated the number of victims dropped for the fourth consecutive year by about 500,000 to 8.4 million persons.
Researchers attributed the decline to better consumer education and awareness and increased use of online banking and financial sites that allow closer monitoring of accounts. “Businesses are doing a lot more, law enforcement is doing more, and so are consumers,” said James Van Dyke, president of Javelin, a research company in Pleasanton, Calif., specializing in financial services and payments.
Tena Friery, research director at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer organization in San Diego, said she was surprised by the size of the decline but said there is much greater public awareness. “We still have a long way to go,” she said.
According to the report, there was a significant reduction in fraudulent new-account openings, traditionally one of the most common kinds of fraud. It occurs when a criminal uses a victim’s personal data to open a new account.
The survey also found that it takes on average less time and expense to resolve a fraud case than last year. When fraudulent accounts are opened, the average fraud amounts dropped from more than $10,000 in 2005 to $7,260 in 2006. Resolution times dropped from an average of 25 hours in 2005 to five hours in 2006.
Van Dyke said one reason the numbers are down is that businesses are “screening account applicants much more closely.”
Individuals and consumer groups have long argued that extra screening was needed because conflicting application information, such as two addresses, could indicate identity fraud.
One group that isn’t doing better, according to the report, is 18- to 24-year olds. This age group was more likely to become a victim of identity theft than other age groups. (See sure to read my related article, Your Child’s First Year at College: Prime Target for Identity Theft?).
The report references offline criminal activities; however, I do believe that incidents of identity theft have remained unchanged online. One example is stated above, with cybercriminals targeting recent high school graduates and college freshmen. Unfortunate victims, these graduates and college freshmen provide extremely lucrative opportunities for the cybercriminals to obtain their personal information. Even before they start their first careers, these graduates and college students will, most likely, be crippled by identity theft.
To protect yourself, you need an internet security team of experts making sure that you, your family, and your business computer are always safe and secure. The best protection you can have in today’s rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all your Internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. You need to find your own personal team of experts to rely on. If you ever have a security problem, you will want to have a trusted expert you can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!
Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.
These cybercriminals leave you with three choices:
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
© MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator , consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Security technology is only a part of an overall security plan. If you own a small business or a home-based business, or if you’ve been tasked with implementing security at your organization, developing a comprehensive security plan should be a very important part of your overall security strategy. Get the information you need to get started on the right track! In the computer/internet security game, the best move is one of Prevention! Prevention! Prevention!
With that in mind, here are the twelve questions you need to be asking, or, at least, be thinking about if you’re serious about preventing or stopping security risks, threats, and attacks:
1. Do I have a solid security policy or strategy?
If you don’t, begin immediately to get sample security plans, policies, and best practices for your business and/or home.
2. Where would I go for key information and news on keeping your information private?
Search the internet for managed security services. Ask if they provide a free computer test to assess your pc’s level of vulnerability. Ask if they provide the latest tips to keep your privacy and protect your personal information and that of your business. Or simply – ask me.
3. Does my disaster recovery plan include redundant back-up and data recovery systems?
Understand what a good data back up system is and how to best recover from a disaster.
4. Do I know how to create safe passwords?
Learn how to write virtually un-crackable passwords.
5. How do I train my employees or family members to be secure?
Get all leading research on what to teach about security.
6. What do I do if my employees are my biggest security risk?
Learn all about social engineering and insider hacking.
7. What or who is a hacker?
A person who uses and/or creates software technology to break into the computers of individuals, businesses, government, and organizations for personal gain is known as a hacker. Often after he, she, or they hack into a computer, they can control it secretly by remote, making it a “zombie computer”.
8. How does he (or she or they) break into home and business computers?
If they don’t have the break-in software, they can buy it off the black market, or create it, themselves. With this technology, they use their malicious software to look for holes in the computers of their targeted victims.
9. To what extent might my home or business computers be vulnerable to hackers, hacker’s tools, viruses, etc.?
You will never know unless you take the time to test your computer to see what holes are open, by what back doors (up to 65,000 portals) are malware entering your computer.
10. What is “drive-by hacking”?
Because wireless Internet access points have become popular for homes and businesses, home and business computers have now become a major target for hackers. In this new phenomenon, called “dive-by hacking”, hackers simply take their laptop computers in their cars and drive through business parks or residential neighborhoods remotely scanning for open wireless networks.
11. Would I know if someone tries to hack into my computer?
Depending on the security measures you have on your computer and the sophistication of the hacker’s software program, you might or might not be aware. Using keylogging programs, these cybercriminals can secretly see and record every keystroke you enter on your computer, thereby gaining access to all your private and personal information.
12. I have all the security measures, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall I need. Can I still be hit by hackers and other pc-disabling attacks, risks, and threats?
Again, depending on the security measures you have on your computer and the sophistication of the hacker’s software program, your computer or computers might or might not be compromised. Remember: Cybercriminals are superintelligent criminals! They somehow always seem to stay one step ahead of authorities and anti-cybercriminal software.
Obviously if you have to ask these questions, then you need to take immediate steps to plug the holes and cover the gaps.
So, here are some steps you can take immediately to implement, increase, or improve your present security measures:
* Learn all you can about hackers and the tools and methods they use to invade your privacy and cause problems. Subscribe to a comprehensive source of Internet security research, news and information for small and mid-sized businesses and organizations, or other professionals, that want to increase their level of security and build on their current technologies and efforts.
* Take advantage of the research already done. Get access to information about the leading topics in the security field, including hackers and hacker tools, viruses, data back up, writing good passwords, government and legal issues, protecting from insider hacking – and more.
* Stay current with important security news developments. Work with a managed security firm that maintains an entire library of the most beneficial news articles, white papers and other links that you can use to maintain an excellent awareness of cyber-security issues on an ongoing basis.
* Need help creating a security plan for your organization or business? Take advantage of professional security consulting and training both by telephone consulting or on-site visits. Get vulnerability assessments, employees training, security implementation, and much more.
Because cyberpredators and other cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.
These cybercriminals leave you with three choices :
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
© MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
Resources Box: Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

When the Super Highway became commercialized, its use was intended for the free and legitimate exchange of information and instantaneous communication. It was a fairly innocent medium, awkward to some, but still innocent and safe. However, nowadays, staying safe online has become a never-ending battle – for children as well as adults. Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to our personal security and our privacy. Our money, our computer, our family, and our business are all at risk.
For example, researchers have found that most web browsers handle pop-up windows in a manner that makes them vulnerable to a simple phishing technique that allows fake content to look genuine. Even fully patched, standard versions of globally used browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Konqueror, and Safari—used by trusted sites such as banks—allow malicious sites to insert their own content into any pop-up window, as long as the target name of the window is known.
Over the past year, experts warned of new attacks that not only circumvent DomainKeys but, adding insult to injury, even exploit the fledgling e-mail signing technology for their nefarious ends.
As eWEEK’s Dennis Fisher reported, the technology once regarded by many in the security community as one of the best hopes for preventing e-mail address forgery is now being used to make bogus messages appear legitimate, thus undercutting confidence in the system. “It proves that people will get to the point where they can’t trust e-mail from anywhere,” one security expert, who requested anonymity, told Mr. Fisher.
But things seemed darker yet before a ring of cybercriminals was recently broken up by Russian authorities. These cybercriminals used keylogging software that they had planted in email messages and had hidden in websites to draw over $1.1 million from personal bank accounts in France.
Their goal was to infect the inner workings of computers in much the same way that mischief-making virus writers do. The twist here is that the keylogging programs exploit security flaws and monitor the path that carries data from the keyboard to other parts of the computer. This is a more invasive approach than phishing, which relies on deception rather than infection, tricking people into giving their information to a fake website.
The keylogging programs are often hidden inside ordinary software downloads, email attachments, or files shared over peer-to-peer networks. Because they can be embedded in webpages, they take advantage of browser features that allow programs to run automatically.
The hidden keylogging programs infect the computers of unsuspecting users. This puts the keylogging programs in the category of malicious programs known as Trojan horses, or just Trojans. These Trojans are very selective because they monitor the web access the victims make, and start recording information only when the user enters the sites of interest to the fraudster.
The growing threat of spyware. Beyond the phishing epidemic, spyware was on track to replace mass-mailing worms as the biggest security threat in the coming year. This technology, which uses covert techniques to install itself on computers and track user activity, is dangerous because malicious code can be executed on infected systems.
As eWEEK.com’s Ryan Naraine reported, spyware, also known as adware, has become the preferred way to deliver malicious Trojans, which can relay information to other computers or Web locations, thus putting user passwords, log-in details, credit card numbers and other personal information at risk.
Notwithstanding financial chief security officers’ complaints, the Feds spent a good deal of the past year studying cyber-crime, pondering and passing legislation to thwart it, and even handing down the first-ever felony conviction of a spammer. The spammer, Jeremy Jaynes, received a sentence of nine years in prison when a jury in AOL’s home county convicted him and his sister.
What Lies Ahead: In the coming years, internet users will not only have to be more vigilant, but will also have to demand more from vendors vis-à-vis secure products, as well as will have to go through legislative wording with a fine-toothed comb.
To protect ourselves, our approach to internet use will have to change to stay ahead of the cybercriminals. But we cannot do it alone, as exemplified by Mr. Greg Garcia, the Assistant Secretary for cyber-security and telecommunications at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, when he said that he and his team are already hard at work creating policies that aim to better protect critical infrastructure.
Although the United States government is better suited than ever to defend the nation’s computing and communications networks, federal watchdogs will need private industry to lend a hand to keep attackers at bay, according to the first-ever federal cyber-security czar.
The cyber-security chief went on to say that his initial priorities revolve around work to breed cooperation between federal agencies to develop common security policies for defending networks and to help the private sector strengthen national preparedness and incident-response plans. Garcia said his most important role will be to serve as a focal point in the U.S. government to drive national security policies across both the public and private sectors.
On a personal level, there is more that we as individuals will have to do in order to keep the internet and the personal computers in their homes and businesses safe. We need to change our thinking and actions when it comes to computer security, especially when going online. But we cannot do it alone; we need an internet security team of experts making sure that we, our family, and your computers at home and place of business remain safe and secure.
The best protection we can have in today’s rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all our internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. We will need to find our own personal team of experts to rely on. If we ever have a security problem, we will want to have a trusted expert we can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!
Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Our money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.
These cybercriminals leave you with three choices:
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
© MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
Resources Box:
Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Two out of five identity theft victims surveyed by the Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting identity theft through victim assistance, research and law enforcement partnerships) know how their personal data was stolen. This knowledge provides valuable insight about how identity theft occurs.
When ITAC surveyed 275 identity theft victims who used the ITAC’s free service over a one-month period, 160 consumers (58%) did not know the source of their identity theft. Another 115 consumers (42%) did know how their information was compromised. These 115 consumers attributed their identity theft to the following sources:
* Friends, relatives, in-home employees – 26 cases, or 22.61%
* Computer hacker/virus/phishing – 25 cases, or 21.74%
* Mail (stolen or fraudulent address change) – 24 cases, or 20.87%
* Lost/stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card – 15 cases, or 13.04%
* Corrupt business or employee – 12 cases, or 10.43%
* Data breach – 8 cases, or 6.96%
* House burglarized – 4 cases, or 3.48%
* Instant credit – 1 case, or 0.87%
Getting accurate information about the sources of identity theft is difficult because identity theft – the opening of a fraudulent new account or account takeover – is often confused with other types of fraud, like the unauthorized use of a credit card.
Nevertheless, it is up to each of us to be on guard against the possibility that our documents, or worst yet, our computers, could be compromised. Sometimes it may seem like a losing battle, but they are some steps we can take to prevent becoming the next victim. Here are some precautions:
* Do not keep your Social Security card in your wallet.
* If your Social Security number is on your driver’s license, remove it. (In some states it is now illegal for a driver’s license to be issued with a Social Security number.)
* When shredding important papers, make sure you use a cross-cut. “If it is shredded in strips and not cross-cut, I can put it down right in front of me and put it back together and there you have it,” says “John”, who uses his skills as a computer defense specialist to protect you, and is skilled in the ways of hackers and thieves and can ruin your credit and your life.
* “Don’t use wireless for anything that you would not want put in a public newspaper. Though it’s a nice convenience, your information is basically floating in mid-air. I could be two blocks away with a high-powered antenna picking up his information.”
* The key is defense in depth or layers: Anti-virus, computer patches, and firewalls, and most importantly, updating them once a week. There are types of protection for wireless but they can be hacked in as little as twenty minutes.
Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.
To protect yourself, you need an Internet security team of experts making sure that you, your family, and your business computer are always safe and secure. The best protection you can have in today’s rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all your Internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. You need to find your own personal team of experts to rely on. If you ever have a security problem, you will want to have a trusted expert you can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!
These cybercriminals leave you with three choices :
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
© MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
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Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Organized crime seems to be extremely active in the scam known as “phishing” in which they send emails under the guise of being a financial institution or other legitimate organization. In the email they ask unsuspecting victims to verify personal information such as account numbers and passwords. They will target home users who have become the weakest link and they target their victims much more closely than before, by tracking down full names and personal interests. They also skim social networking sites and personal websites where most people have left a digital footprint that can be mined. According to research scientist, Ollie Whitehouse, “Organized crime is here and they are very interested in phishing. They target home users who have become the weakest link,”
Cybercriminals are increasingly trying to trick citizens into giving them their bank account details, according to a published survey which showed such “phishing” attempts almost doubled in the first six months. Over 157,000 unique phishing messages were sent out around the world in the first half of 2006, an increase of 81 percent compared with the six-month period to end-December 2005. Each message can go to thousands or hundreds of thousands of consumers, according to the bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report from security software vendor Symantec.
Another trend in the first half of the year is that phishers have become more sophisticated, dodging spam filters and other defense mechanisms designed by service providers and software companies to keep out the criminals.
How much financial damage phishers have caused is unclear and usually at an individual level, which is why phishing does not get the same media attention as “denial of service attacks” aimed to take out a specific web site, or email worms which can shut down millions of computers in a digital equivalent of a carpet bombing. The Internet is still under fire from such attacks, taking about 6,110 different denial of service hits every a day, but unlike a few years ago they cause less damage.
“A successful ‘denial of server’ attack or worm can have ramifications far beyond phishing. Worms have taken down electricity grids. That’s why critical infrastructure is now much more resilient. Information technology managers are better prepared and networks are more robust,” Mr. Whitehouse further stated.
Increased focus on security, and a willingness from software companies to own up to their mistakes has dramatically cut down the time that computers are at risk, Symantec found. For example, Internet Explorer, the world’s most popular browser from Microsoft, has cut the number of days in which hackers can exploit a security flaw to nine days from 25 days six months earlier. Security holes in browsers from Opera and Mozilla Firefox are patched within two days and one day respectively.
Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.
They leave you with three choices:
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don’t occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose! © MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes.
For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

6. Learn what to do if something goes wrong.
(a) If a scammer takes advantage of you through an Internet auction, when you’re shopping online, or in any other way, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
(b) If you get deceptive spam, including email pishing for your information, forward it to “spam at uce.gov” (replace “at” with the @ sign).
Be sure to include the full Internet header of the email. In many email programs, the full “Internet header” is not automatically included in forwarded email messages, so you may need to take additional measures to include the full information needed to detect deceptive pam.
(c) If you believe you have mistakenly given your information to a fraudster, file a complaint at the FTC’s website and then visit their Identity Theft website to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from a potential theft of your identity.
7. Use anti-virus software, a firewall, and anti-spyware software to help keep your computer safe and secure. Don’t be put off by the word “firewall.” It’s not necessary to fully understand how it works; it’s enough to know what it does and why you need it. Firewalls help keep hackers from using your computer to send out your personal information without your permission. While anti-virus software scans incoming email and files, a firewall is like a guard, watching for outside attempts to access your system and blocking communications from and to sources you don’t permit. Some spammers search the Internet for unprotected computers they can control and use anonymously to send unwanted spam emails. They refer to these as “zombie computers”.
If you don’t have up-to-date anti-virus protection and a firewall, spammers may try to install software that lets them route email through your computer, often to thousands of recipients, so that it appears to have come from your account. If this happens, you may receive an overwhelming number of complaints from recipients, and your email account could be shut down by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Some operating systems and hardware devices come with a built-in firewall that may be shipped in the “off” mode. Make sure you turn it on. For your firewall to be effective, it needs to be set up properly and updated regularly. Check your online “Help” feature for specific instructions.
8. Be sure to set up your operating system and Web browser software properly, and update them regularly. Hackers also take advantage of unsecured Web browsers (like Internet Explorer or Netscape) and operating system software (like Windows or Linux). Lessen your risk by changing the settings in your browser or operating system and increasing your online security. Check the “Tools” or “Options” menus for built-in security features. If you need help understanding your choices, use your “Help” function.
Your operating system also may offer free software patches that close holes in the system that hackers could exploit. In fact, some common operating systems can be set to automatically retrieve and install patches for you. If your system does not do this, bookmark the website for your system’s manufacturer so you can regularly visit and update your system with defenses against the latest attacks. Updating can be as simple as one click. Your email software may help you avoid viruses by giving you the ability to filter certain types of spam. It’s up to you to activate the filter. In addition, consider using operating systems that allow automatic updates.
9. Subscribe to a managed security services. As the best form of protection available today, you get much more than just software. You get professional grade technology coupled with having a team of security experts available to help with any security problem. This level of protection has never been available for homes and small businesses until now, and, because of the increase in online security threats, risks, and attacks, it is becoming the future of Internet security.
Although the Internet basically provides a positive and productive experience, cyber-attacks against our personal privacy and security are reaching epidemic proportions. These attacks are occurring in our own homes and businesses. Our own computers are being used are being used as zombies to attack other people, businesses, and even our nation itself. As an average Internet user, you may not be aware of these threats nor have any idea about the dramatically increasing risks you face when connected to the Internet.
On a campaign for internet safety awareness and protection, my mission is to bring critical awareness to individuals, families, and small business owners, and to provide access to the necessary tools and ongoing expertise to secure your computer and help you stay protected.
I invite you to join the many thousands of others who have tested their computers, discovered these threats are real, and taken the necessary steps to protect themselves.
Now that you have become aware of these issues, I encourage you to share this vital information with your families, friends and communities. Together, we can reach many millions of people and inform them about the threats to their privacy and security, and help them get the protection they desperately need.
Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose! © MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Safety Advocate, recommends to individuals and small business owners the protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) package he uses. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Although the Internet basically provides everyone a positive experience, attacks against our personal privacy and security are reaching epidemic proportions. These cyber-attacks are occurring in our own homes and businesses. Our personal computers are being used as zombies to attack the computers of other people, their businesses, and our nation. Identity theft and assorted crimes committed online, commonly referred to as cybercrime, has grown to epidemic proportions.
As an average computer and Internet user, you may not be aware of these threats nor have any idea about the dramatically increasing risks you face when your computer is connected to the Internet. And when you do become victimized, sometimes it seems that there is nothing you, the average computer-and-internet user, can do to fight back.
Internet Safety Advocates are on a campaign for Internet safety awareness and protection. With a mission is to bring critical awareness to individuals, families, and small business owners, they provide access to the necessary tools and ongoing expertise to help the public secure their computers and stay securely protected.Using the internet as a way to fight back, Internet Safety Advocates found a talk show as another way to continue to fight cybercrimes.
Online talk shows allow Internet Safety Advocates to expand their cybercrime-fight abilities by allowing:
* both domestic and international audiences to participate;
* listeners anywhere in the world to listen at no cost to them;
* English-speaking listeners anywhere in the world to call-in at no cost, and
* each show to be recorded and archived as a podcast for listeners to review at their leisure.
Thus, if you plan to start your own online talk show for whatever reason, I encourage you to utilize one that is, not only user-friendly, but offers the following features and benefits:
* it has one-click Flash-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) feature. (This enables listeners to interact with the show from their Web browser without the need for long-distance fees or a traditional landline or wireless phone.)
* It has an integrated telecom-based back-end infrastructure. (This means that for the listener no software downloads are needed.) Listeners who wish to participate during his live internet radio show must simply have a microphone connected to their computer and be logged onto the talk show’s site in order to connect directly with the host. Once those steps are completed, the listener simply clicks a button on the show’s web page to interact directly with the host.
If you’ve been wanting to fight back cybercrime and didn’t know exactly where to get start, here’s an option available to you. And the best part is that you won’t spend an arm and leg of your tight budget because the entire service is free. You can’t ask for better than that! If you run into difficulties or have questions, please feel free to contact me.
Etienne A. Gibbs, Internet Safety Advocate and Educator, recommends to individuals and small business owners the protection package he uses. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/