We have all heard the horror stories about hackers busting into computers and learning secrets, that are suppose to be secure. And we have seen the movies where terrorists hack into highly secured government computers and take over, shutting down electric and water systems, and getting nuclear bomb codes. Although these are rare, and major if they ever did happen, there is still a lot of everyday hacking that is happening to the general public, such as Identity thief. This is a process where people get your personal information, either from computer files or even on paper. And they use it for their own gain.
We all have information stored on computers. Even if you don't own one your information is still in large computer systems everywhere. Our banking systems use them, our government agencies, our schools, and work places. In all these computer lays our very critical details. Such as Driver's License number, Social security numbers, bank accounts, credit cards, health records, etc. And if you do use a computer for personal use such as shopping, then you have had to give your information over a computer many times. And if you make purchases over the internet often you my have your information saved so you don't have to enter it every time, and this could make it easier for someone to get a hold of it for the wrong reasons.
Online banking is another good example of our information being accessible on a computer. These hackers learn how to get our information from our personal computers, or even our banks. And they collect important pieces of our lives. Anyone who has ever been a victim of identify thief can tell you what a nightmare it can be. Your savings could be wiped out and your hard earned credit rating destroyed. So what can be done? Our banking systems and other high level organizations have top notch security measures in place to help protect us and our information. They also have people working everyday on improving security, and learning how to handle and avoid new threats. On our personal computers we need to take the proper precautions. And have different types and levels of security software in place. Hopefully this will help prevent anything bad from happening to our detailed information.
When you are shopping, or doing anything on the internet that requires you to give out details about yourself that can fall into the hands of a thief, be careful, and make sure the site you are giving this information to is secured and legitimate. Microsoft windows has an alert systems in place that tells you if you are entering an unsecured web page, it also checks the security certificates of a website and if there is a question it will advise you not to go there.
Pay attention to all the alerts when they are given, they are there to help protect you. Computers and the internet have made our lives much more fulfilling and easier. You just need be little careful and cautious. Just like walking to your car in the dark late at night, Just pay attention.
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