Digital Trends

We live in a time when using computers for purchases, bill paying, and banking are becoming more and more the norm. Broadband and constant, fast connectivity are the accepted standards. Given just how much computers are a part of our daily lives, you should find a couple of recent pieces of news very disturbing.

 

A government survey in the U.K. found that 12% of respondents had suffered from online fraud in 2006, yet fewer than half of the respondents believed they should be responsible for protecting their personal information online.

 

The other item was a story in the New York Times that stated thousands of Social Security numbers are posted online by states and counties. Of course, along with them you often find addresses, dates of birth, and maiden names. It's like offering someone's identity on a platter to thieves.

 

This pair might be unrelated, but taken together they highlight the growing problem of keeping yourself secure online. In spite of those survey results, protecting personal information should be a vital issue for anyone using a computer. Criminals are becoming more sophisticated, which means the defenses have to be constantly improving.

 

We assume we're doing everything possible to safeguard ourselves and our identities, but as these stories show, a significant part of the online population is doing no such thing. So, perhaps it's worthwhile to start by recapping the most obvious precautions.

 

Make sure you have a firewall and that's it's properly configured. There are many available, both free and paid, stand-alone or part of a package with anti-virus software.

 

Use anti-virus software (again, paid or free, like Trend Micro PC-Cillian Internet Security); update and run full scans regularly. You should also have anti-spyware installed on your computer, and, once again, check it often.

 

Make sure you don't use the same password for all accounts. Create your passwords from a mix of letters and numbers, which makes them far less easy to hack.

 

Do you use a Wi-Fi network at home? Then you'd better set it up properly, with both a firewall and a password, or anyone sitting outside in a car can enter it and hack into your system.

 

Use the spam filters in your e-mail client (also worth considering is a filter called Mailwasher, where you can preview your incoming mail and delete items you don't want to bother with). If you receive obvious spam, don't open it, and never open attachments that you're not expecting, even from people you know and trust; their computers might have been hijacked.

 

Oh, and if you use a Mac, don't look so smug. You might be largely safe from virus attacks, but malware and adware can still get you, so take all the appropriate steps.

 

If you believe your bank account – or any account – has been used without authorization, report it to the bank immediately.

 

 

 

 

Possibly the biggest threats to keeping your identity secure are phishing e-mails and pharming. Phishing mails look like e-mails from PayPal, eBay, or a bank. They're becoming more and more sophisticated, running variations on the basic theme, which is to get you to part with your personal information so the crooks can access your accounts.

 

These days they're very well done, having moved from the obvious to such things as reporting a transaction you know you've never made, hoping to panic you into clicking on the website link and giving your account access details. Do that and your account will either be sold or drained, and probably the first you'll know about it is when you discover you have no money.

 

Pharming is a more insidious beast, and harder to detect. In essence, when you type in a URL, you're redirected to a fake (but convincing-looking) site. This is done through rewriting local host files on your computer with a virus like the Banker Trojan, or DNS server poisoning, which can send a lot of people to the fake site without them knowing.

 

Although firewalls and security suites can block unauthorized transfers of data, believe it or not, your PC browser can act as phishing protection. Firefox 2 comes with a default phishing filter, which blocks data from going to known phishing sites. However, as the database is static, you need to check with Google's constantly updated list (Tools > Options > Security > Check By Asking Google About Each Site I Visit), which should help keep you safer – although you'll have to accept the agreement first.

 

 

 

FireFox Screenshot

 

If you're one of those who've moved to Internet Explorer 7, you're also in luck. In fact, as you install it, it asks if you want to install the phishing filter. If you haven't already, you can get in running by clicking Tools > Phishing Filter > Turn On Automatic Website Checking > OK. The new Opera browser, 9.1, will include a similar feature.

 

 

 

 

These days, it's not only eBay that has a free toolbar to help protect you from phishing. Earthlink and AOL are also among those who provide them. They verify every URL you type or web link you click and inform you if the real address is different. You might balk at the thought of adding yet another toolbar, but it's a worthwhile addition.