Over the last 18 months, an ominous change has swept across the Internet. The threat landscape once dominated by the worms and viruses unleashed by irresponsible hackers is now ruled by a new breed of cybercriminals.Cybercrime is motivated by fraud, typified by the bogus emails sent by "phishers" that aim to steal personal information. The tools driving their attacks and fueling the blackmarket are crimeware - bots, Trojan horses, and spyware. Introduction to Cybercrime & Crimeware Podcast (mp3 / xml) Download Cybercrime Booklet (PDF)
The Internet is a big part of our lives nowadays. As part of an average day, we log onto the Internet for shopping, banking, social and business networking, applying for jobs, researching genealogy, finding old friends, downloading music, taking a course, you name it, if we need to receive or send information, the Internet offers some avenue to help you do the task.
As usage of the Internet becomes more widespread, Internet crime has also risen. It's become incredibly important we take preventative measures to protect our safety. Identity theft is on the rise and this is another important factor we must consider. With each piece of information transmitted or stored online, there is a risk of falling victim to a crime. Currently some of the biggest trends we have to protect ourselves against are hacking, stalking, fraud, phishing, social engineering, theft, spreading Malware and harassment.
There are several ways you can proactively safeguard yourself from falling prey to cyber crime. Here are a few tips:
*Get educated. When arming yourself against cyber crime, it's important to become aware of the risks. By educating yourself on current illegal trends, you can better understand ways you can reduce the risk of becoming a target. Awareness is the strongest weapon you can obtain to protect yourself against cyber crime.
*Use vigilance. It's a good idea to always be vigilant when sharing personal information over the Internet. It's important to make sure you only share minimal, if any, personal information with people you do not know. Be conscientious of what information share even if you think you are being careful. Often criminals will talk with their victims for long periods of time, piecing together bits of personal information until they have a complete profile. People you associate with or meet online may not appear to be who they say they are, after all one never knows who is really sitting at the other end of a network connection.
*Be careful with passwords. Do not ever enter passwords or personal information on links you received in email since emails can be spoofed and/or used to "phish" for information. Always go to the business or organizations website directly by using the URL and make sure the web page has been secured; if it has been, it will indicate "HTTPS" instead of "HTTP" in the URL and you will see a small padlock icon on the lower left hand side of your screen. Never give out your password to anyone online or even by a telephone request. Valid organizations have policies which state a member of their agency will never ask for a password. Also change your password frequently and make sure it's a strong one, a strong password contains both letters and numbers; it's a good idea to create one which is easy for you to remember but hard for someone else to guess and/or use a software program to try and crack.
*Protect your computer. It's also important you invest in installation of anti-virus, spy-ware and firewall software. There are many programs available that you can download for free, or you can purchase a proprietary one. There are several good websites available that can advise you on how to select the right one for you.
One well-known website is C-Net.com, and can be accessed at: http://www.download.com/Antivi rus-Firewall-Spyware/?tag=dir.
*Use caution with e-mail. Be careful of downloading attachments from email. Many viruses, Trojans, and other damaging files can be included in e-mail attachments. Before downloading a file, try to verify the person who sent it to you has indeed sent you a file, as often Malware is sent via an infected persons address book and the person has no idea they've sent you an infected file if they've fallen victim to Malware. Also, do not download files or click on links to websites from people you do not know.
*Read privacy policies. Another tip is to read privacy policies of any online entity you conduct business with. Be aware of what is done with your personal information once you do share it with a company or organization. While most of the businesses you work with are legit, occasionally a partnering organization may sell data to a third party undesirable business you may not want your information shared with. Most of the time you can opt-out of your information being shared if you take the time to read privacy policies.
Using the Internet is fun, educational and useful. Taking precautions while online will significantly reduce your risk of becoming a victim of cyber crime. Always remember that it's better to be proactive, hesitant and cautious than spontaneous, as impulsiveness on the Internet often leads to trouble. If something or someone seems or sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
http://us.norton.com/cybercrime/index.jsp
