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Page 2 of 4 Dispelling The Myths 
People have become paranoid about security issues on the Internet, and it's no secret that fraud and identity theft on line is a real concern. Software giants like Microsoft, Norton, and McAfee make their livings addressing these concerns. Mitigating the risks though has very little to do with software and much to do with individuals and their naiveté. Realizing a few simple things about this medium can drastically reduce one's exposure to risk, and much of it is just plain common sense. For some reason many of us fail to apply the same common sense rules we use in our real lives to our on line existences. Let's examine some common concerns and take the issues that arise apart."Oh no! Someone has my IP address!!!". Big freaking deal. The exchange of IP addresses is how communications on TCP/IP networks are possible. Just like you cant order take-out pizza without knowing the pizza places phone number and calling them, a website you visit wont know how to send you a web page you requested without knowing your IP address. And just like someone can have your phone number, but not really do anything to you (short of annoy the crap out of you), the same more or less applies with someone knowing your IP address. Having an IP address and doing something malicious with it are TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS. And just as you can avoid drama over the phone with such things as voice mail, caller-id and call-blocking, you can do the same things on line with a basic firewall. Even the rather minimalist one that comes with XP is more than adequate to protect you from all but the most determined of morons. The real risk isn't hackers, it's YOU. "Oh my god, this guy says he's a hacker and he's gonna OWNZOR ME!" Yawn. True hacking is by no means a simple process. Much of what is claimed to be hacking is really not in the purest sense. For instance, someone being able to crash your Yahoo Chat client IS NOT HACKING!! This is someone exploiting a weakness in the client software itself, and 99% of the time this is done merely to be an annoying j*ck*ss. At worst, you'll have to restart your Yahoo client, and then go ignore an idiot. This is no different than someone being an obnoxious twit at a bar, and you having to unfortunately be made uncomfortable by the experience. Most of the rest of what is claimed to be hacking also isn't true hacking, it's social engineering. Social engineering is a process of attempting to gain your trust, either directly or indirectly, for the sole purpose of gaining something from you. It could be your Paypal account. It could be gaining control of your computer by fooling you into installing something you shouldn't have. It could even be as simple as someone wanting to make you believe what they say, even when what they say to you isn't true.
These are but a few examples of the many common social ploys people fall for. We humans as a general rule want to believe those around us, but most of us do exercise a healthy dose of skepticism in our daily real-world lives. If people would exercise a similar dose of healthy skepticism in their on line existences, much of the risks exposed by these social ploy's would vanish. Sure, many of us have "friends" on line, but that sort of on line relationship DOES NOT RISE TO THE SAME LEVEL as the friends you see face to face every day. It simply does not nor will it ever. You can find much value in the social interaction you have with people on line, and it can be a very positive thing to experience. Still, it's at a level that does not equate to the friendships and relationships one makes off line. Period. Would you give your bank account information to someone claiming to be calling from your bank over the phone? No, of course not. You'd have the common sense to ask WHY and be skeptical. You'd offer to call the bank back directly yourself and hang up. Just as you would never give personal information over the phone in a conversation YOU DID NOT INITIATE, you should never do so on line either. If some stranger walked up to your front door and offered to give you something "really cool" for nothing, you'd slam the door in their face or at the very least all of your "what's the catch" alarms would be going off. So why not be as doubtful of someones intension's thousands of miles away typing to you in a chat window even if you do "think" they're trustworthy? Don't misunderstand, it's really not all gloom and doom. It's the gloom and doom aspect that lines the pockets of security product vendors, because of the innate paranoia and fear people have of the Internet. Security product vendors like Norton, McAfee and others do provide useful products and services, but much of their real usefulness is blown out of proportion primarily to sell you on the concept of peace of mind. You can mitigate much of the risk on your own (and save a ton of money on security software) by simply realizing what the pitfalls are, and not succumbing to them. |
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