Computers and Consumers - Understanding & Avoid Identity Theft
The Internet has given more than one billion people around the world, a way to find information instantly. The number of threats to consumer safety increases as the consumer is connected with several teams, companies and people online. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), the national agency for consumer protection, said that all Internet users should understand the importance of online safety and take steps to protect themselves.
Why the need for security and how to protect
The team: Part of a computer sophistication lies in its ability to connect to other computers via the Internet to provide information. When connected with other equipment, which opens to the transmission of information, which can create computer's vulnerability. Hackers can connect to the computer, scanning open ports, and access to unauthorized information about the user of the computer.
Most computers have an intrusion detection system ("IDS"), which monitors your computer for suspicious activity. When suspicious activity is detected, the IDS sends an alert that an intrusion has occurred.
An IDS by itself will not protect your computer from hackers and viruses entrants. Computer users also need to protect themselves with firewalls, which create a barrier between hackers and the team and help prevent unauthorized access to information.
The user of the computer: the computer user can also open the door inadvertently leading to a security breach, such as when the user is using the Internet to make purchases. According to the Office of the U.S. Census, USA e-commerce sales for 2007 were $ 136.4 billion. Although the Internet has made shopping much easier, it also increased the number of cases of identity theft. A study by the U.S. Justice Department reports that 6.4 million households experienced some type of identity theft in 2005. Consumers will also be open to increased unwanted SPAM e-mail called for when shopping online. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize risk when buying online.
Be careful when you send your personal email address. Consumers over the Internet to increase your chances of receiving spam e-mail when easy e-mail address to make a purchase. As mentioned earlier, hackers can access the consumer information by scanning ports are not secure. Consumers can help protect themselves only to provide information necessary to make the purchase. There are companies dedicated to protecting consumers from identity theft and SPAM e-commerce.
By providing payment information, consumers should always make sure the site is secure. An easy way to determine if a site is secure is to look at the web address bar at the top of the screen. The http, preceding the address should change to https when checking in a shopping site. The "s" indicates that consumers are buying from a secure page.
Finally, consumers should avoid using ATM / debit cards for purchases, such as failure of this information could gain unauthorized access to consumer information from the bank account. Use a credit card instead. Most credit card companies work on behalf of his client, if a hacker to steal information from your credit card. In many cases, the consumer is liable for $ 50 transaction.
When a smart consumer online stores and operates in conjunction with private websites FTC security and decrease the chances of being one of the six million families affected by identity theft.
October 14, 2011, 04:26:09 AM