The Internet is a wonderful place. It gives millions of people access to information that they could never have obtained through traditional means. However, as many people have learned the hard way, the Internet also has a dark side where crime is committed and criminals hide behind a wall of anonymity.
Things get hacked, people post embarrassing photos, and kids and adults are drawn to sordid things with just a few clicks of the keyboard. Last year saw two major hacking scandals. One was perpetuated by a legitimate British media agency (which it has now closed) and the other happened by a person with impure motives.
Both incidents highlighted how easy it is to access the Internet and that even the best-protected websites are vulnerable to attack. However, one of the biggest threats to your online security is the person who owns the web accounts. Many cyber attackers use phishing to obtain information from unwitting suspects.
Phishing is simple. Asks the intended victim to provide confidential information so that the attacker can gain access to their accounts. However, if you think that phishers cannot fool you, you must understand that many of them use complex methods to retrieve information.
Phishers make near-exact replicas of emails from legitimate companies that the intended victim does business with. It then asks the target to reveal their login and password information or else their accounts will be terminated. This is a sham and is intended to mislead the target.
The simplest remedy is for the target to call the actual company’s phone line directly and ask you to confirm the situation. Many times they will tell the target that the email is a scam and ignore it.
The anonymity of the Internet makes it easy for people to send fake emails and create fake profiles. Many fake profiles have surprised a person and it was only after they lost their money, their love or sadly their life.
Many people are aware of scams that originate primarily in West Africa and target people in the West. However, there are also scams in which these same people hide in online dating profiles and pose as handsome military and medical officers hoping to find the loves of their lives.
Although the Internet has helped many people find the love of their lives, they should question anyone asking for money for medical bills, house repairs, or anything else. Is a gotcha. However, most of these problems can be prevented with a simple Skype chat.
The scariest method many people use is attacking children. Chat rooms are a notoriously dangerous place for a child to live. Many men attract minors through age-appropriate chat rooms. They pretend to be a person (usually a boy) and earn a girl’s trust.
Then they usually ask them to send lewd photos, meet them somewhere, or run away from home to be with them. This is a very dangerous thing to do and parents should monitor their children’s interactions within chat rooms (including Facebook) or block them entirely.
Another major security problem is malware. Malware infects a computer and sends information to the source. There are very good malware blockers on the market. However, the computer owner should continue to update all antivirus programs and only use one antivirus program to prevent various blockers from canceling each other.
While the Internet has succeeded in transforming the world as we know it, it has also provided criminals with an inexhaustible number of potential targets. However, people must be aware of the pitfalls of the darkest corners of the Internet to protect themselves and their families from any unfortunate incidents.
