How,Protect,Your,On-line,Priva DIY How To Protect Your On-line Privacy

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Travelling the highways and byways of the Internet canexpose you to harmful exploitation. Nick Pullen, a mastercybernaught, suggests you enhance your personal security andpeace-of-mind by following the "Rules of the Road."The Internet is a wonderful facilitator. We use it tocommunicate, do business, access information, news andservices, and to shop. But the Internet and the technologywhich makes it possible also has a darker side. It enablesinvestigators, fraudsters, marketers, stalkers, hackers,lunatics and just plain nosy people, armed with the rightequipment and know-how, to appropriate sensitive data andconfidential information about you, your personal, financialand professional affairs, whether you are on or off-line.This sensitive material can be sold to criminal orcommercial buyers. Or it can be used to damage you and yourpersonal or commercial interests. It could be used toblackmail or defraud you. It could be used by someonewanting to commit crimes in your name. It could be used toharass you. It can be added to any dossier being discreetlycompiled about you by just about anybody for just about anypurpose. The Internet could be used by a lunatic or someonewith a grudge trying to track you down."New viruses are released into the public domain all thetime."Fact is, personal data and sensitive information about youractivities and who you are is probably floating aroundCyberspace right now - completely open to access. Sendingemails, posting to news groups, shopping, and surfing on-line can undermine your personal, financial and professionalprivacy unless you take precautions.I am not saying that Cyberspace is riddled with dementedhackers or bulging at the seams with criminal types waitingto target you. But there is an undesirable element outthere. If you’ve taken steps to protect yourself, you can becertain of not falling foul of them.Use the following techniques to ensure peace-of-mind on-line.Preparation For On-line ActivityRestrict the flow of sensitive personal data. Your browsercan literally shed information about you. Unless you takeprecautions to prevent it, without you knowing, your browserwill simply distribute your email address and other contactinformation whilst you are on-line. Protect your main emailaddress: In your browser's Set-up, Options or Preferencesmenus don’t enter your main email address. Instead set up analternative email address free of charge (athttp://www.hotmail.com or http://www.yahoo.com or any of theother on-line email services offering free accounts). Enterthat address instead. In the same way you must protect yourreal identity. In the same browser menus enter a pseudonyminstead of your real name.Ideally, to protect your main (non-Internet) systems andfiles against on-line privacy threats, use a second computersolely for Internet access and activity.If you have a personal web page on the Internet don’t postpersonal information on it. Why give passing fraudsters,psychopaths or pranksters your home address, telephonenumber, or any other personal details?Essential Ongoing MaintenanceUse virus protection software and use it regularly to sweepfiles attached to emails and files you download from theInternet. Use Norton Anti-Virus which can be obtained fromhttp://www.symantec.com. Alternatively, use a free virusscanner such as AVG, available from http://www.grisoft.com .Make sure your virus detection software is up-to-date. Newviruses are released into the public domain all the time. Ifyour software only deals with viruses up to a certain dateit is not providing adequate protection."Many spammers are outright con artists."A badly configured or maintained computer can revealsensitive information about your Internet activity even whenyou are off-line. Windows contains a file called Historywhich acts as a log of your Internet movements, keeping arecord of all the Internet pages you have visited. Thishistory file can last for months unless you configure yourbrowser to prevent this. Go to Tools/Internet Options andset the days to keep pages in history option to zero days.Also ensure you regularly clear the Temp folder andTemporary Internet Files folder which will be found inWindows. Periodically open those folders, select theircontents and delete.Strengthen Your Email SecurityThe three best pieces of advice I can give you aboutpreserving and protecting your on-line privacy are asfollows. 1: Use encryption. 2: Use encryption. 3: Always,always use encryption. Why? Encryption is the most effectivedefence there is against really determined hackers,stalkers, and fraudsters who capture sensitive data byintercepting unencrypted email and Internet messages. Toomany people still send unencrypted emails containing allmanner of sensitive personal, financial, and commercialdata. Fact: Sending unencrypted email through cyberspace islike sending a postcard through the mail system; anybody andeverybody can read it. Use encryption. Which encryptionsystem? PGP encryption is the best around. Download it freeof charge from http://www.pgp.com.If you ever want to send an email without the recipientknowing who you are or your email address, use theAnonymizer remailing service. Send your email to theremailer which strips your actual name and email addressfrom the email header and sends it on anonymously on yourbehalf. Check this service out at http://www.anonymizer.com.Ignore any unsolicited emails you receive. These are sent byspammers. Never purchase anything from or send any money orinformation to a spammer. Many spammers are outright conartists. If you send money to them don’t expect to see itagain, and don’t expect to be supplied with the promisedproduct or service. Don’t even reply to spammers who manageto get hold of or buy your email address. Many spammers askyou to send a message back if you want to be removed fromtheir mailing lists. Don’t do this. A return message willconfirm that your email address is in use. This enhances thevalue of your address to the spammer. He might well removeyou from his mailing list but he will sell your details tomany other spammers who are sure to target you.Posting To News Groups/Chat GroupsDon’t reveal personal details to strangers or new friendsyou meet on-line. You don’t know who you’re talking to in achat room. For the sake of security don’t give out your realname, where you live, where you work, your phone number orany other personal details which might be used against youor to track you down.Messages you post on the Internet or on mailing lists revealyour email address. This is easily discovered and eithertargeted or used by just about anybody. Services such asDeja News also keeps a record of every posting ever made byan individual. It is a simple matter for someone to searchDeja News to find out details of postings made from youremail address, which news groups you post to and why. Tocounter this, have more than one email address. Set up afree web-based email service. Use this for posting to newsgroups, mailing lists, chat and public rooms. Tip: If no-oneknows that this extra email address belongs to you, no-onecan link you to it or any posting you make from it. In thisway you can post regularly to alt.sheep.fanciers. withoutany fear of being identified by snoops! Use a further cleanemail address for small members-only mailing lists and forcommunications with known, trusted individuals.Safe Surfing TechniquesMany free sites require you to register personal detailsbefore you can get access. Just because a site asks forpersonal data, it doesn’t mean you have to provide it. Youhave options. Provide a phoney name, address, preferencesetc. There is no law against this. Such details are neverchecked. They are collected for marketing purposes only.Note: If you purchase something you must provide realbilling information to avoid claims of fraud.Beware of sites offering rewards or prizes in exchange forcontact details and other sensitive data. You’re unlikely towin a prize and any data obtained in this manner is soldoften to multiple direct marketers. Pretty soon you’ll bedeluged with unsolicited email, post and telephone calls.Protect your children too. Set clear rules for them. Makesure they know not to reveal personal information when theyvisit sites unless you okay it.Web sites store bits of data, Cookies, on your computer’shard drive. Cookies contain your user IDs and passwords tosites. However, Cookies can also be used to trawl for data,tracking your surfing, recording what links and pages youclick on, how long you spend on specific pages. This data isused to create a profile about you for marketers. Rememberthat sensitive information about your Internet preferences,interests and actions could come back to haunt you. Forprotection turn on cookie notices in your browser. How? Openyour Internet browser. Go to Tools/Options/Security. Pressthe Custom Level button. Select prompt for the Cookieoptions. Now each time a Web site attempts to place a cookieon your hard drive you’ll receive a warning and informationabout the cookie. Decide whether or not to accept. Onlyaccept cookies from trusted sites. Decline cookies which arenot temporary or which provide information to sites otherthan the one you want to load.Be anonymous when you surf. How? Use the Anonymizer, aspecialised service which disguises your identity and on-line movements. Check out: http://www.anonymizer.com .Alternative anonymising services you might try:http://www.in.tum.de/~pircher/anonymouse/ ;http://www.spaceproxy.com ; http://i-security.addr.comSafe On-line ShoppingNever send credit card details over the Internet withoutensuring that your connection is secure (encrypted). How totell? Look for a locked padlock icon at the bottom righthand corner of your screen. Or see that the security buttonon your browser bar is highlighted. If the connection is notsecure take your business elsewhere. A company that iscareless with your information and money does not deserveyour trade.Before doing business with any site, in case of problems,satisfy yourself that the site operator provides off-linecontact information including a postal address and telephonenumber. Before ordering, try the phone number to ascertainthat it works . Keep a note of these details.If the connection is not secure take your businesselsewhere.Check to see if the site has a privacy policy. Read it. Doesit provide protection for the data you may submit? If itdoesn’t, don’t release the data.Many sites display seals or certificates awarded by watchdogorganisations which testify to the trustworthiness of thesite. But there can be problems. You can’t rely on takingseals at face value. The reason being that con artists fakethe seals or fraudulently post them on their sites. Thesolution? Before entering into agreement, contract, ormaking any payments on-line, check with the seal-issuingbody that the site’s seal is authentic.Do the necessary due diligence: Read terms and conditionsbefore you pay for anything or enter into an agreement. Makesure you know what you’re getting into. Be aware of auto-rebilling scams and hidden fees.Always print out the order form you use on-line and keep anyconfirmation of the sale, payment details and delivery datesyou may be emailed.