Security Risks or Computer Geeks Just Having Fun

Spending time online remains risky for your computers health despite the efforts of many

Do you want to protect the valuable information you have stored on your computer from the greedy clutches of the hordes of Cybercriminals increasingly operating in elaborate underworld networks of Web sites and chat rooms located virtually anywhere in the world. An underworld where they sell one another stolen account numbers, tools for making credit cards, scanners to pick up card numbers and PIN's from ATMs, and viruses and other malicious software.

These thieves pay up to $14 to $18 per stolen identity, according to Security firm Symantec which spends millions of shekels trying to find new and innovative ways to prevent intrusions onto computers. And these criminals get a good return on their investment as identity theft cost consumers and businesses $49.3 billion in 2006, according to Javelin Strategy & Research, based in Pleasanton, California.

Of course, not all ID fraud is carried out online as ways to defraud people have been around long before the invention of computers or the internet. The most recent schemes involve hackers breaking into customer files of businesses and they are devising new ways to obtain the information to carry out their nefarious schemes as you read this. In a coming hub we will talk about just how easy it is for someone to obtain your personal information from your used PC or your Internet connected computer.

Given that there are Websites where Cybercriminals can obtain tools to help them carry out these online attacks, it's clear that the kind of online threats investigated by security experts in the industry today - spam, fraudulent Web sites, and malicious software (malware) - have become very important tools on the belt of identity thieves operating on the Internet.

Law-enforcement officials have increased their efforts to throw a net around Cybercriminals and developers have designed better security software to counteract the tools used by these malicious individuals. But these threats to Internet security remain potent despite these efforts according to the results of the 2007 Consumer Reports State of the Net survey. The fourth such survey for this organization and based upon 2,030 online households reviewed, the survey leads us to the following conclusions.

• The survey indicates that your chances of your computer being effected by an attack of these malicious criminals is about 1 in 4, depending upon your online activities of course - less then last years chances because some threats appear to be easing, a false sense of security surely as many significant threats exist and new ones are being created constantly.
• Significant numbers of people are still falling prey to phishing scams, in which false e-mails and Web sites request you disclose information about your financial accounts. About 8% of those surveyed indicated they had given personal information to such scams, about the same as last year. It is estimated by industry professionals that upwards of a million customers have been defrauded of billions of shekels by individuals running these scams.
• 38% of those surveyed reported a computer virus infection in the past two years while 34% indicated they had a spyware infection within the past six months of Internet use. Based on projections of data by industry professionals virus infections meant 1.8 million PCs were replaced in the past two years and spyware infections accounted for another 850,000 in the last six months alone. If you're running a Mac system you already know the good news as very few reported infections of either type.
• Surprisingly, seventeen percent of those surveyed reported they didn't currently have antivirus software installed on their computer and thirty-three percent indicated they don't use software to block or remove spyware. At least most computer owners reported installing a firewall, which will help keep hackers out of your system. But industry professionals estimate there are still upwards of 3.8 million U.S. consumers with Broadband access still lack a firewall to protect their valuable data.
• If you have gone wireless your system faces additional security risks and half of those in the survey using a wireless router reported not taking simple precautions such as enabling encryption on their computer. If you like to use connections at public hotspots, you have put your laptop system at greater risk than your Internet connected home computer and 63 percent of individuals surveyed reported putting their personal information at risk by logging on to password-protected accounts.
• Young people make up a large percentage of individuals routinely using the Internet and they are at risk while doing so. Of the individuals surveyed with minors online, 13 percent of their progeny who were registered at MySpace.com were younger than 14, the minimum age the site officially allows users of the site to be. Have you prepared you're kids for the threats that exist on line? Many of the parents in the survey hadn't.

In conclusion, Cybercriminals have become very sophisticated in their attempts to take the easy road to riches, we must be constantly on guard against the threat these malicious individuals pose. Government, law officials, individual consumers and the computing industry as a whole need to increase their labours to protect all involved from the criminal activities of hackers.

Well that's it for this hub, in future hubs we will talk about particulars of some of the risks you face while using the Internet today. Happy hubbing!