Online: The Dangers of the Internet

ONLINE: THE DANGERS OF THE INTERNET

A few months ago, my dad's website is hacked. The hacker made up false statements and asked for money from my dad's many clients and acquaintances. Some are tricked into donating millions to the hacker. Remembering this dangerous event, I feel the need to share with others.

INTRODUCTION

The internet is terrific. We can access millions, even billions of websites with a few key words and a click from the mouse. However, it can also become a liability.

How do you know if the article or caption or posts you are reading is true? This is very important. Some people wrote about events that never happened. Some made hoaxes. And now, Cyber-bullying comes online. Cyber-bullies are people that makes up offensive statements, threatens another via the internet and mocks others. Some hacks people's accounts and changes them, for example, status.

CROSS-REFERENCING

It is of the essence to make sure whether the article or posts you are reading is actually true. One way to do that is by cross-referencing. Cross-refencing is to compare one's work with another's. So if you read articles about the same topics and they contradict each other, to make sure you know which is right and which is wrong, read more about it. Do not believe everything written that instant, make sure. After all, posts can be used to make lies about other people.

HATERS

Haters, or so they are called, leaves offensive comments. If you have an article with a hater, it is necessary to delete his/her comment(s) and block him/her out. Haters also spam people, sometimes trying to advertise a product or provocative statements via comments.

HACKERS

Hackers are very dangerous. What makes them so bad is that you may be reading from a hacked website. Hackers can leave advertisements, false pleas for help (using website owner's identity; for example: "Help, my family/relative is very sick, please donate). If you cannot access/edit your website, and it changes without your knowledge, immediately notify the people that uses the website (your clients, family, relative, boss, co-workers, etc) that the website has been hacked and you are not responsible for the changes in it. Quickly ask an expert (IT expert, IT consultants) to help you regain your website.

FALSE IDENTITIES

Now identity theft is becoming commonplace in the internet. Identity theft is when a person assumes another's identity without the owner's approval. Identity theft may also be done by hackers. Email accounts and chatting accounts may be targeted by a hacker.

VIRUSES

Now viruses are spread worldwide. Trojan Horses, Worms, and many other kinds of rogue programs can spy on your computer. Hackers can plant spyware, hide viruses, send spam and assume your identity.

Be vigilant about hackers, for not even the most well-guarded systems are immune to their programs. The American Navy once had its database hacked, along with Harvard's system as well, by an Argentinian student Julio Ardita in 1992. In 1994, British hackers Richard Pryce and Matthew Bevan (appropriately nicknamed "Datastream Cowboy" and "Kuji") hacked US military computers in 1994. In 2002, Gary McKinnon (Known as Solo) hacked NASA and US military computers from a room in London, claiming he was looking for evidence of UFOs.

Sniffers, Keylogging and Vulnerability Scanner programs can be implanted in your computer. These cunning programs detects weaknesses in your firewall and detects passwords and user IDs. Programs known as Trojan Horses (harmless looking until you open it; viruses comes out) and Computer worms (does not need to be attached to files; thus harder to delete; ravages your systems) are also very dangerous.

They spread by many ways. The minigames you see advertised in websites every single day (Free handphones here! Get a read of your future, click here; play thousands of free games, get an iPad 2 for IDR 10000; seriously. These advertisements looks appealing, but hey, they look too good to be true, don't they?) and with one click, you entered a blank page.Unknown to you, as you click, a virus sneaks in to your computer via the internet. That's right. You can accidentally pick up viruses with a click of your mouse. How many times do you click your mouse everyday? Hundreds? Thousands?

That's what you risk when you surf the net. There are benefits, but there are also liabilities.

How can you stop these?

Use the newest and best antivirus programs. Sure, some are expensive, but it will be worth it. Keeping yours up-to-date may save yourself from the dangers of hackers and viruses.

CONCLUSION

Be aware of viruses, scan your computer for them constantly, do not believe everything the internet says, cross-reference, make sure news you read is true, and you should be just fine.

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