Internet Security Fundamentals

The book I read to research this post was Internet Security Fundamentals by Nick Ioannou which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. This book tells you all about the various scams and cons that what is often organised criminals do to get things like people’s bank details and other personal information that can be used for identity theft. It does a good job in this respect although is rather short but is such an interesting topic I’d have liked to have read more about it. We hear about things like phishing where they send you a fake email supposedly from someone like your bank or ISP asking for personal information but now rather than use a fake website many use a link to the actual that actually installs spyware on your computer or other spying app and watches you typing in your personal information. Many phishing messages use free throw away e-mail addresses which should put you on your guard. In fact there is a market for web sites with similar names to actual sites like banks and these are quite sought after by phishers. A very common technique is offering the latest blockbuster or a porno film as a free download complete with malware that as you install it bypasses your firewall. Often you are asked to install a plug in to play the movie of course complete with malware. It does say if you need additional software to play a file get it ideally from the official site or at least from a mainstream site. Another scam is getting an attractive to strip off on a web cam and getting you to do the same and then blackmailing you by threatening to post it on a social media site of you stripping or even sending it to your employer or spouse. Even if you think you are talking to an attractive lady on the internet often it can be someone completely different just phishing for personal information. If you have a teenager or partner who goes on a computer you mustn’t do any internet banking or shopping online on that machine as almost certainly they won’t be as you and have the same high standards about not downloading malware or giving away personal details. In fact with teenagers it suggests get them a tablet and get them to use that instead. Never use internet cafes and especially not there machines even for things like checking e-mail. Instead use a smartphone and many have a personal internet hotspot feature that you can use with your tablet or netbook whilst out. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think it was a free download which makes it a bit of a bargain. It’s also very well researched.

Online Anonymous

The book I read to research this post was Online Anonymous by Ben Evans which is an excellent book which I downloaded from kindle. This is only a very short but is free on kindle and I think is good enough to part with cash for definitely. The book does say for some people there are legitimate reasons to hide their web presence like they live in a country that has a dictatorship or want to avoid identity theft. If you are on a social media it is worth going in as a visitor and checking what is displayed publicly on your profile. Often people synchronize these sites with their smartphone and information like their address and phone number is displayed publicly in their profile even though they didn’t intend for that to happen. Often an identity thief will follow you around the internet checking the sites you regularly visit collecting information along the way. There are anonymous email providers like http://mytrashmail.com that will let you use an email account anonymously for a specific period. If you wish to browse anonymously there is an internet browser called The Onion Ring or Tor which you can download at https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en This browser was financed by the naval intelligence in America and works by using other computers to appear like you are using them and hiding your internet activity. There is a browser that does a similar job on Android Phones where you download orbot and orweb. On the iPhone there is covert browser priced at $2.99 that does a similar job and apparently they charge for that because they have to pay a subscription to have it listed. Bear in mind with some sites if you are logging in anonymously it can cause problems particularly if you are buying stuff. I really enjoyed this book and think I probably wouldn’t do something like use Tor browser to surf the internet but obviously for some people especially in a totalitarian regime it’s essential. Bear in mind also your ISP stores a lot of information about you which if a security service got a subpoena would have no choice but to hand over.

Identity Theft

The book I read to research this post was 50 Ways To Protect Your Identity In A Digital Age by Steve Weisman which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. Steve has a blog devoted to identity theft and associated issues at http://scamify.com This book is also one of the most comprehensive guides to what is a wide ranging subject. The most common form of identity theft is giving law enforcement officers someone else’s identity with connection to crime. This of course can result in some poor person being arrested for something he hasn’t done. One poor man got arrested 3 times for possession of cocaines and even had to spend 2 nights in jail while it was being cleared up. Luckily his fingerprints were checked and they realised they had the wrong man. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime worldwide. Much of this type of crime is carried out on a large scale by organised criminals but also there are many one man operations often with no previous convictions and usually on a much smaller scale. The FBI won’t investigate crimes where less than $100,000 is involved. Often banks and credit card companies don’t investigate relatively small infractions. It’s not just your computer that puts you at risk either, many people have smartphones, internet televisions and tablets which in many cases have very little protection. One example of a method of hacking in the book is very few people change the default pin for their voicemail so anybody can eavesdrop on their messages. Much identity theft is carried out by friends and relatives who can fairly easily gain access to things like your credit card etc.The better your credit rating the more likely it will be stolen. Also popular sources of identity are dead people, children & old people. By law in America you are entitled to a credit review from each of the 3 major credit reference agencies for free per year. If you space them out that works out at one per 4 months which is good as it is free.

Identity Theft

The book I read to research this post was Identity Theft Inc by Glenn Hastings et al which is an excellent book which I borrowed from the library. This book is written by a couple of identity thieves & tells you everything you need to know I think it’s the best book on the subject I have read. This is intended for information purposes only. On a simple level a simple scam is to have a friend who has a credit card you use their credit card to buy stuff. The stuff is sent to a place you rent under a false name. At the end of the month when your friend gets their statement they say the payment is fraudulent & don’t know anything about it & claim their money back. Another system is to give you the card let you buy stuff with it & an hour later report it stolen. When renting a flat for the stuff to go to you can use friends for references.  If you order stuff by phone most businesses can trace the call so you should probably use a payphone & definitely shouldn’t lie about your location. If you are looking for people with an excellent credit record use a service like Experian. Arizona is the world capital of online fraud partly because it has a rapidly expanding population & because it has a lot of methamphetamine addicts. Also a lot of people who are high on drugs in the early hours of the morning find it ideal to go through other peoples garbage looking for things like unused chequebooks which they can use for fraudulent activity.