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How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?
By being aware of what the risks are, I suggest you will save yourself money and have more effective protection when it comes to the second part of the answer to the question "How do you stay safe on the Internet?"... selecting effective prevention and protection to guard privacy and online security. To help you decide what is necessary for your particular protection, in The Three Levels Of Internet Risk Protection, I talk about the safe practices that help protect your computer and the types of software to use -- from those that are absolutely essential for security, to others which you may want to install to guard privacy to the level you desire. But back to this article, 'How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?'... here, I'll provide you with an introduction to each type of threat. At the end of it, you'll have a good feel for the dangers on the Internet and how those threats can affect you, your PC and your information... be it personal, financial, family or business. There are ten of the most prevalent threats covered here. Either go through them all, or click on the links below for those you are particularly interested in:
By the way... I've tried to keep the technical language simple, but if you don't understand some of the terms, check them out at Netlingo, which provides definitions and explanations for all Net terminology. 1. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?... |
How Do We Get Infected?
Trojans are one of the sneakiest of the online risks. They are often downloaded on the back of a free program (freeware) that has some value to the user -- a free game, software program or music, for instance.
How Does A Trojan Infection Affect Us?
A Trojan installed on a computer allows that PC to be entered via a 'backdoor' by any remote user that has the access code to the Trojan.
The remote attacker can enter the computer undetected, when the user is online, to access or destroy any information stored. Alternatively, the Trojan can be programmed to automatically send any information on our PCs back to the attacker. This could include,
- Client or customer information or other business data
- Credit card details
- Passwords for access to your online bank, ISP or web services
- Information you would rather remain hidden
- Email addresses, which may be used for spamming
- Children's names, photographs, ages or other personal details held on the computer
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack on other computers via the victim's computer
3. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
Rootkits
What Is A Rootkit?
Rootkits are not destructive in their own right... but they are designed to conceal the presence of malicious programs on a computer.
How Do We Get Infected?
As with any malware, such as viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware, rootkits get onto our computers by various means, such as through spam attachments being opened, on the back of free downloads or planted by crackers who have breached computer defenses.
How Does A Rootkit Affect Us?
Rootkits are there for one reason only... to ensure that an intruder can access our system and take control without detection by defenses to guard privacy and security.
One of the most common and worrying uses of rootkits, which causes us to ask 'How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?', is to launch spam and denial of service (DOS) attacks against other computers or networks. Another use of rootkits is to hide Trojans, so an intruder can easily use it to extract data from your computer, as mentioned above.
3. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
Crackers And Hackers
What Is A Hacker/Cracker?
The term "hacker" is a misused term. We should really be referring to a "cracker" to describe those who break security on a computer system.
The original term "hacker" refers to computer enthusiasts who enjoy learning everything about a computer system.
How Do We Get Attacked?
Crackers run programs that scan computer ports over the Internet to work out which ports are accessible. If our computer shows up in one of these scans, the cracker may decide to enter our PC.
Crackers favorite targets are the home and home office computers connected by broadband to the Internet... because the connection is always open, there is more opportunity to locate these computers with their scanners.
Alternatively, crackers may just exploit weaknesses that have not been 'patched' in the computer's operating system in order to gain entry. As discussed above, Trojans are another way crackers use to gain access to our PCs.
How Does A Cracker Affect Us?
Besides the potentially valuable information they can obtain from our PCs, such as that listed under 'Trojans', these intruders also want our hard disk space and Internet connection. With these resources they can use our computers to send out spam or attack other computers on the Internet... and all this can be done without our knowledge! Another reason why we should know, how do you stay safe on the Internet?
4. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
Spam -- Unsolicited Email
What Is Spam?
Spam is defined in Dictionary.com as, "Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail".
Spammers peddle pornography, sexual aids, diet pills and get-rich-quick schemes... in fact, anything that has a perceived value.
Spam is no longer just a frustration, nuisance and time-waster... it has now become a major Internet security risk to those of us who want to know, how do you stay safe on the Internet?
How Does Spam Attack Us?
There are many ways spammers obtain our email address and this results in the spam bombardment most of us suffer.
However, much of this spam has malicious code or malware incorporated into it. We can trigger this malware just by opening the email or even previewing it in our email program.
How Does Spam Affect Us?
If you're not quite convinced that spam is dangerous, consider the following...
- 80 percent of spam e-mail messages originate from home computers! They have been secretly taken over by spammers and are known as zombie PCs. Spammers and cybercriminals can control thousands of these zombies, which together form a "bot network"
- Identity theft and fraud and phishing via spam email is growing in frequency
- 95 percent of viruses are sent through email
- Spam is often used to deliver spyware
5. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
Web Bugs
What Is A Web Bug?
It is an image file, usually 1x1 pixel, hidden on a web page or in an HTML e-mail and will be of interest to those who ask 'How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?'
How Do We Get Infected?
Like most malware, we do not know when a web bug is present. They are usually downloaded in spam and they can be on any webpage we visit.
How Do Web Bugs Affect Us?
A web bug tells a spammer when an e-mail has been opened, and marketers what advertisements and web pages we have viewed.
The bugs can discover key details about our system that are very useful to hackers. They also transmit the IP (Internet Protocol) address of all readers of an e-mail to a spammer.
6. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
"Child Security"
Some form of parental control is required to prevent children being funneled to inappropriate web sites and predators on the Net, such as in chat rooms -- it was as a result of the mounting concern about how do you stay safe on the Internet, particularly kids, that MSN decided to close its chat rooms.
There are also the risks of spam sent to kids. Not only are there the malware risks, but a survey showed that more than 80 percent of children said they receive "inappropriate" spam every day. Half of those admitted that they felt "uncomfortable and offended" when seeing them and just didn't know how do you stay safe on the Internet.
Despite these concerns, many parents are unclear where to go to get advice about keeping their children safe online.
7. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
"Pop-Up/Under And Banner Ads"
What Are PopUp/Under And Banner Ad?
A pop-up ad appears as a separate window on top of the web page we are viewing, whereas pop-under ads appear under the page being viewed, becoming visible when the web page is cancelled. A banner ad is immediately on view on a web page and can be animated or stationary.
What Is The Risk?
Popups/unders/banners can be an annoyance by interfering with our viewing pleasure. However, some of these ads can also be a serious threat, as they can carry Trojans, spyware or browser hijackers. Unfortunately, we can't see which ads have hidden, malicious code to decide how do you stay safe on the Internet.
The malicious code is generally activated by clicking on the ad... the malware being installed on our computer through vulnerabilities in our browser and a process known as a drive-by-download.
8. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
"Tracking Cookies"
What Are Tracking Cookies?
When we browse web sites, the web server for the web site sends a cookie to our web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer), which it then stores on our computer hard drive.
Cookies are small text files containing information that identifies each user. When you move to another page or return to the site at a later time, the web server asks your browser for the cookie, so it can 'recognize' who you are.
How Cookies Can Affect Us
Cookies are often used by advertisers to track our browsing and buying habits and create profiles of users for targeted marketing.
Multiple sites may read from the same cookie and share the information or, they can sell it on without the knowledge or consent of the user.
Although not a serious security threat, cookies are a privacy risk.
9. How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
"Spyware"
What Is Spyware?
Spyware has surpassed viruses as the number one computer Internet security risks facing us today. Most estimates report that 80-90 percent of computers already have been infiltrated by spyware.
Spyware is software that is installed on our hard drive to gather information about us and our computer habits. It then transmits it through our Internet connection to a third party, usually without our knowledge or consent.
There are two categories of spyware... surveillance or monitoring spyware and advertising spyware, or adware.
How Does Spyware Infect Us?
Spyware is often downloaded through freeware and shareware and the P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing programs, like Kazaa, Imesh and Bearshare.
More aggressive forms of spyware can install themselves through "drive-by downloads", where an invasive program is invisibly downloaded to your computer. It can be initiated by simply visiting a Web site or viewing an HTML e-mail message.
How Does Spyware Affect Us?
Surveillance or monitoring spyware can scan our hard drive and search programs for sensitive information like credit card, bank information and personal details.
It can change our browser's home page, scan browser history for web sites visited and monitor various aspects of our computer and Internet activity! The information is then transmitted to the attacker.
More and more companies are installing spyware to watch us at work to check that we are not using the company network to surf prohibited sites or spending too much time dealing with personal email.
Advertising spyware logs information, such as our name and passwords, our browsing and Internet usage habits, online purchases and email addresses. And, of course, it downloads advertisements... lots and lots of advertisements!
How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...
What Next?
Having read through the computer Internet security risks, you'll now know some of the many dangers you're facing as soon as you go online.
Unfortunately, the home and home office computer is particularly vulnerable to attacks from these threats. By looking at the second article on this subject, How Do You Stay Safe On The Internet?...Why The Home/Office PC Is Susceptible, you'll appreciate why we home users are such attractive targets.
If you're wondering what protection is critical to insulate your PC against these risks, the answers are provided in How To Choose Your Computer Internet Protection In 3 Easy Steps.
There, you'll see how to decide what protection is right for your PC usage and habits.
Alternatively, if you already know the risks you want to protect against, just click on the appropriate button on the navbar at the top left of this page.
