Hackers

Protecting Yourself From Online Hackers

With the evolution and our increasing reliance on the internet, online hackers have

become an escalating problem. Internet crime has risen 3.4% in 2011 compared to 2010

(Hoover, 2012). If you use the internet at all you put yourself at risk of becoming a victim

of online hackers. The government and law enforcement can only protect people to a certain

extent. Individuals and businesses can help protect themselves from online hackers by

education, taking the necessary precautions, and being as diligent in protecting their information

as the hackers are in obtaining the data.

Educating yourself is the first step to combating online security breaches. Before you

start using the internet you need to understand the threats that exist online. Ask yourself ‘what

kind of information do the hackers want and how do they go about getting it?’ Credit card

information theft accounts for 84% of computer breaches and personal information theft

accounts for 32% (Marshall, 2010). Hackers use different methods to obtain this information.

Some of the methods used are sending out probing e-mails, attaching spyware and malware to

different internet sites and through your wireless system (Marshall, 2010). Educating yourself

may seem like a waste of time at first but understanding the dangers is very important in

protecting your identity and sensitive information.

Now that we know the threat we can take the necessary precautions to limit the chances

of becoming a victim. First of all, spyware is software that steals information from your

computer and sends it somewhere else (Brown, 2010). Malware, on the other hand, is software

that is designed to damage a computer, server, or network (Brown, 2010). There is software out

there that can protect you from spyware and malware....