Root Love // Cyberpunk NIFO

There are a lot of films out there that portray what a powerful criminal tool the internet is. Most of these show hackers stealing document files online. But did you know that identity theft can occur on the internet as well?

In today’s world, the internet has become a haven for criminals and scam-artists. Most of these criminals gain access to passwords, personal data, and identifying information in order to gain access to a person’s assets.

Most of this information can be acquired via various forms of spam email. Another method crooks use to get your information is by getting the victim to sign up on a website that promises him/her profits. This allows the criminal to secretly gather your information. Later on, they use it to impersonate the victim.

But criminals aren’t just looking for your bank account number or social security number. They try to find out about your lifestyle as well. This enables them to do more spying.

But how does all of this happen?

Cookies play an important role. The cookie is a piece of text which the web server leaves on your computer to allow you to easily access information in the future. Cookies have information about the user’s personal preferences. It can also carry information about which sites the user has visited, the email sent, and even which advertisements the user has clicked on.

Most cookies are harmless, but criminals use the cookie as a tracking device. Not only that, they use it to get precious personal data. A cookie also gives criminals an idea of in which of your areas of interest they should perpetrate the scam.

Most internet thieves use software to get access to public data records. Out of public records, the thief can get information like the victim’s date of birth, their surname, maiden name, address, social security number, and more.

Aside from public record databases, most of the thieves use web-links. They just type in the Social Security number to get the info they need. The internet connects them to a search engine, which, according to recent information, has about 95 identity sites. Basically, the criminal can just click on the person’s file and all their personal information will pop up.

Some criminals create fake websites. If the viewer of one of these websites subscribes, and enters his or her personal information, all of that personal information then falls into the hands of the criminal.

Beware — any machine in a public place is distributed to multiple users. When you make a purchase online, the website will leave a tracking cookie on your computer. If someone finds that information on the internet, he or she could try to acquire something from the store on your account.

There are other hackers that use encryption software. This software can be used to mix credit card numbers. This allows the criminal to figure out your number.

Keep in mind that sending your personal identification number to an online store is not completely safe. The only time encryption happens is when the viewer uses a secure shopping site. If it is encrypted, the site will show a padlock icon in the lower corner of the web browser.

Most internet identity theft criminals want to have access to someone’s personal account. Most of them intend to start spending money and take the identity to make new purchases.

For instance, many of the criminals have poor credit and do not have the capacity to take out a loan. Because of this, they get someone else’s account to use in an internet transaction.

With the beginning of this internet fraud, identity theft has become a profitable industry. Criminals, hackers, and scam-artists have easier and quicker access to classified data around the globe.

In order to prevent this from happening to you, you should be very careful transacting business on the web. Look for the padlock icon in the bottom corner of your browser before hitting the “checkout” button.

Most business today take advantage of marketing in the internet to sell products of their specialization. Competition is high in the market so some might want to start small and just need a good internet connection to start with. Good internet connection is very affordable nowadays for just starting out entrepreneurs. Small online businesses earn right away in a month or so and no need to worry about other expenses that are hard to handle.

You must be wary of the dangers that can happen in your online business, specifically those pertaining to computer security such as hacking your computer system. As we know, small internet business ventures do not get affected by viruses and other malicious acts but they are also prone to these types of attacks. The risk can be very great that it can affect your business for such a long time. Most owners of online business now don’t consider the fact their small business can be the target of these internet and computer threats.

According to research experts of internet businesses, half of the non-larger sized online businesses failed to comply the basic security measures needed to run their businesses. This includes installation of anti-virus softwares including spywares into the computer systems. This is the reason why Mydoom worm succeeded in affecting one of the three non-large sized online business ventures compared to a few large internet companies affected. Internet Security Alliance also found this result based on their researches. To make the story short, small internet-using businesses are also vulnerable to internet threats not just large businesses.

Small internet businesses should pay attention to the new strategies employed by different hackers that hard to tackle nowadays. These hackers are using advanced techniques necessary to push through these internet security installed on the system. Your business could blow up to pieces if you were not paying attention to the threats infiltrating to your computer. Your investment could go to waste if you will not put up a security measure in your computer.

Computer and internet security should be the top one priority when setting up an internet business. Set in mind that this business using internet us always vulnerable software attacks even if youre just starting your business. Big business are easy to recover when a loss happens since they have more backup funds to recover from a major failure in the business. Small businesses have lesser funds to recover from a mishap and thus should be more careful in their internet security measures.

There are lots of remedies coming out now to solve the various threats we have in our internet. Internet and computer security services are also everywhere to help us with installation of more complicated security setup. By having these high security measures, hackers will find it hard to get the data on your computer.

Always find other possibilities first. First things first and avoid things that will put your business venture to an end in a flick of a second.

 Around 8000 net bank customers in Denmark has been deprived to enter their own net banks lately. The reason is a virus according to F-Secure that has been targeted against Danish net bank customers.<br><br>

The main task of the virus was to take control over the customers card transactions and let the men behind the scene empty the accounts for money. There is no information about whether money is lost during this attack or not. The banks have closed several accounts in order to minimize any risks in this case.<br><br>

The security company F-Secuer has identified the Trojan as Trojan-Banker.Win32.MultiBanker but there remains to make a cure against these.<br><br>

The Trojans identified in this case were difficult to detect and complicated in construction, as they have used rootkit technology and the consept they have used to sniff information is called Man-in-the-Browser technique.<br><br>

The way it works is that the Trojan modifies the victims behaviour in true time like in a bank transactions. The method is described as very complicated and expensive routine. Unfortunately we will see more of these types of attacks in the future and the banks will need to ensure more safe routines and methodologies to ensure customers security online as well in other electronic transactions they are involved in.<br><br>

The challenge is big, however, it remains to see whether the banks will make available enough resources and efforts to solve these issues or not.<br><br>

At the moment it looks like internet based services are not safe for the users and caution is advised using these at the moment.

Phishing: (fish’ing) (n.)

This is when someone sends you an email falsely claiming to be a
legitimate business – like your bank or credit card company – in
an attempt to scam you into giving them your personal, private
information that they can use to access your accounts.

Phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a
variation on “fishing”, the idea being that bait is thrown out
with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will
be tempted into biting.

It’s an online form of Identity Theft. The email then directs
you to visit a fraudulent website where you are asked to provide
maintenance or update your personal information, such as:

* Social Security Number

* Passwords or PIN numbers

* Bank Account Numbers

* ATM,Debit, or Credit Card Numbers

* Credit Card Validation Codes

* Your Phone Number and Address

Learn How To Identify It

Phishing is so dangerous because the average email user does not
know how to identify a fraudulent email.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Legitimate businesses do not ask you for your personal
information by email.

Sometimes it may be necessary to update your information, but
most businesses will alert you to this when you sign in to your
account through the business’s website. So – just as you
wouldn’t provide personal information to telemarketers and
people you don’t know – you shouldn’t provide it to anyone
asking you for that in any email.

2. Fake email messages are often not personalized.

When your bank, credit card company, loan company, etc. sends
you an email it is usually personalized. It’s only common
courtesy to use your name. So this would also be an indication
that the email is a spoof.

3. A link in the email is masked.

This is the part that confuses most people. “Masking” a link is
simply asking you to click on a link that directs you somewhere
else than what you thought you were clicking on.

A simple way you can catch this is by moving your cursor over
the link and looking at the bottom of your browser on the status
bar. This will show you the actual website the link is going to
take you to.

4. The “lock” in the status bar is not engaged.

You need to make sure that the lock in the status bar is
locked. This ensures you that the page you are on is secure. If
it doesn’t have the lock, then any personal information that you
put on there could be compromised.

Here Are Three Things To Keep In Mind

1. Never reply to email messages that request your personal
info. 2. Never click on suspicious links. Move your cursor over
the link to see where it is directing you. 3. Make sure the site
is secure. Check the lock on the status bar.

Article Provided By: Identity Theft Prevention Guide 10 Million
Victims in the last 5 years. Don’t Be The Next ONE. Minimize
Your Exposure…Learn How. Visit:
http://Identity-Theft-Prevention-Guide.co

Revolutionizing the world of telephony, VoIP has become one of the fastest growing technologies of today. It has quickly gobbled up the market for the traditional and well established tools for communicating over large distances, by making them look antiquated and expensive.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is basically a process which converts your voice into digital signals that travel over internet. Its most prominent feature is its affordability. With VoIP you can make long distance calls at a fraction of cost that you used to pay to your telephone companies. It is primarily because of the fact that transferring digital signals over internet is quite cheaper than transferring analog signals over the traditional telephone lines.

However, nowadays VoIP is in the news not for the great savings in long distance calls that it offers but for the security concerns attached to it. As VoIP runs through internet, the information exchanged can be intercepted by anyone at any time. Moreover, because of its popularity VoIP has become a soft target for the hackers. In the absence of a strong firewall system, hackers may capture sensitive information such as credit card number and bank details. They can even launch denial of service attacks and shut down a voice conversation, or send spam or virus over the internet to disrupt the services. Another vulnerability that the IT sector is worried about the hacking of VoIP networks for making free calls. According to industry sources, a new generation of “phreakers” may be able to manipulate the data switched through a hybrid TDM-VoIP network which will allow them to exploit the billing system to make free calls. Another menace that is plaguing the VoIP networks is ‘caller-id spoofing’. There are some hacking websites that allow people to control the phone number that appears on the receiver’s caller-id display. Moreover, they can modify their voice with the help of voice modification software. Thus, they have become a useful tool for private investigators and pranksters.

VoIP service providers are now trying to secure their customers from these threats through the tunneling and encryption processes. These techniques prevent the hackers from capturing the information packets as they pass through the internet. Most of the service providers are using Layer 2 tunneling and an encryption method called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to prevent anyone from getting the confidential information. However, despite of all these possible threats the IT segment is still enthusiastic about the cost savings and the added functionality that VoIP offers to their business. Most of them consider VoIP as a reliable and robust system and the security concerns not so serious to hamper the progress of VoIP.

Thus, although the attacks on the VoIP systems are at a nascent stage but they may gain teeth and hit the consumers sharply as the hackers become aware of the details of this service. Thus, it is necessary for the concerned authorities to understand the criticality of the situation and be ready to take the necessary preventive measures to prevent any major impact of these threats on VoIP in future.

Identity Theft – Protection & Recovery

What is Identity theft?
Identity theft is a serious crime and occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, social security number, credit card number or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years – and money – cleaning up the mess thievers have made of their good name and credit record. In the meantime, victims may lose job opportunities, be refused loans, education, housing, cars or even get arrested for crimes they didn’t commit.

Identity Fraud – A Rising Tide
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America! According to a Federal Trade Commission survey, 9.9 million Americans were victimized in the last 12 months – a level ten times higher than the agency previously estimated. The victims collectively reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket losses, due in large part because most victims don’t discover the fraud until it’s too late – perhaps even a year or more after the fact. Additional identity theft statistics include:

• Identity theft is up about 80 percent from last year.
• As many as 33.4 million Americans were victims of identity theft since 1990.
• Nearly 85 percent of all victims discover their identity theft case in a negative manner (as opposed to proactive action taken by a creditor or business).
• In the past 12 months, 3.23 million consumers discovered that new accounts had been opened, and other frauds had been committed in their name.

For additional information, visit our online Learning Center and download our FREE, comprehensive Identity Theft Prevention Manual today.

Important Contact Information

If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, call the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline toll-free at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338).

Social Security Administration (Fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

Identity Theft Credit Repair Program
Ovation Credit Services Inc.
Call: 1 (866) 639 – 3426
www.ovationcredit.com

Rights under the Telemarketing Sales Rule

To learn about your rights under the Telemarketing Sales Rule and how to protect yourself from fraudulent telephone sales practices, request a free copy of Straight Talk About Telemarketing.
Contact the Consumer Response Center at:

Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
Toll free, at 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357)
TDD 1-866-653-4261

Contact Us
Repairing your credit report is one of the most important financial decisions you can make. Ovation Credit Services is a trusted law firm that makes the process convenient, personal, and effective. If you have any other questions or need for credit report repair services, please contact us anytime.

Anyone who falls in the category of human beings (hence not animals) is now able to make calls with the help of the internet. The prevalent hassles which were a part of normal calls being sent over standard telephone lines are now resolved with the introduction of the system of IP telephony and hence the user is now given the best possible facility ever to make a call.

The consideration of the phrase:’free IP telephony‘ leads to the conception which is both the major feature of this facility as well as of this article. Hence it is now most obvious that the primary asset of calls that are being made with the help of this system is that they are absolutely free.

Voice over IP and telephony have worked together in the best way possible to give to an ordinary person the ability to stay in touch with his fellow ordinary men living in ordinary locations in this world. The technology of VoIP is therefore the mainstay of the process of free IP telephony and the world should thank the inventors of this technology for giving a completely new look to communication.

The process of transmitting voice coming out from the vocal cords of a human being into digital signals has therefore created a new dimension in the communication sphere, particularly in the price domain. Money has therefore become a meagre entity in most of the cases and in some cases has become completely nullified. The latter part of the previous sentence is gradually becoming the dominant form of taking with the medium of internet telephony and the world is seeing the word ‘ free’ becoming an aspect of making telephone calls. The advantages of IP telephony are many and some of the major ones are increased quality and also decent reliability as well as considerable level of security. The cyber world has seen an increase in the number of hacking incidents specially DOS (denial of service) attacks and packet sniffing. The present softwares that are now present are quite reliable in this sense that they are made with the capability to handle these type of hassles.

The customers who are using this system of communication are also prone to be segregated by virtue of their individual presence. Hence the typical service providers handle the provision of services to both individual customers and also to mega business establishments. The service is normally provided along with many other associated features and the type of this features therefore depends upon the type of the customer.

The world is now aware of the underlying technology being used in this system and is hence also aware of the mediums being used for the implementation of this mode of communication. Hence the computer is being used in a major way by many customers who download the required software available at the websites of the internet telephony providers do the basic process of talking with the aid of a microphone and a headset. They are also quite aware of the need to install ATAs into their normal phones for the use of this latest technology and hence the number of customers is on the rise.

Free IP telephony is used by many people all over the world and hence the communication process has taken a major leap into advancements and therefore speed. The time is no longer an essence and so is also the money that is normally amassed in a huge amount when a call is made with the normal medium. This mode is therefore here to live as well as grow in all its brilliance.

A network is two or more computers linked together in order to share data. From a security standpoint, the problem with networks is that unauthorized individuals might also be able to access that data. Network security is a term that encompasses your overall system for keeping your network as impenetrable as possible, be it hardware, software, or company policies.

Whether your network consists of two computers or two hundred computers, there are certain basic security measures you should have in place. Most of these measures aren’t complicated or expensive, and they don’t require any particular expertise in networking or computer security.

One of the most basic steps for securing your network is to have anti-virus software in place. Anti-virus software periodically sweeps your computer looking for known viruses. You can also choose to run a anti-virus test at any time. Once run, the software generates a report that lists the viruses detected. You are then able to select which, if any, of the viruses detected you want quarantined and removed. It’s more important that you keep your software up to date because new viruses are created and released every day.

Next, make sure you have a firewall in place. A firewall is like a gatekeeper. It’s a hardware/software combination that allows you to decide what goes in and out of your network. You determine the “trust level” to which your firewall is set. The trust level dictates which network connections will be automatically allowed and which will require specific permission. Firewalls come with a “default” setting which is unlikely to be stringent enough to meet your security needs. For optimum security, you should always manually set the trust settings to a higher degree of scrutiny.

Firewalls and anti-virus software are essential for another very important reason: they help protect your system from adware and spyware. Adware and spyware range from annoying to very dangerous. Adware slows down your system, and generates irritating pop-up ads that interfere with your work. Spyware is much more serious. It tracks your computer usage habits, and basically opens up a door to your network that allows hackers to penetrate your system without your knowing it.

Another simple measure is to regularly download patches for your software. Computer programs are tested for vulnerabilities and possible exploits before they are distributed to the public. However, it’s impossible to detect every single vulnerability in advance. As new exploits are discovered, companies “patch” their programs and software to prevent the exploitation of that vulnerability. Without these patches, the software and programs on your computer remain vulnerable.

Network security also depends on common sense. Weak passwords can cause big problems, but are easily avoided. Never use easy-to-guess passwords like your last name, phone number, or birth date. Always use a combination of letters and numbers. Your best bet is to avoid real words altogether and use a string of numbers and letters that stand for a saying or phrase you can easily remember.

Another common sense security measure is to delete suspicious-looking email. More importantly, never open or download an attachment from an email address you don’t recognize. Doing so could be inviting a virus right into your computer. When in doubt, follow this simple rule: delete without opening.

If your business, you should also put in place security policies to govern the behavior of authorized users. Even authorized users can pose a serious security risk, sometimes without realizing it. For instance, “I love to dance, I love to sing” could be “1L2D1L2S,” with the number 1 replacing the letter I.

Here are a few elements of a solid network security policy:

• Require your employees to change their passwords every 3 months.

• Do not allow employees to post their passwords on their desk or cubicle

• Immediately terminate a departing employee’s access to your network.

• Operate on the computer network equivalent to the “need to know” basis. Only allow an employee access to the programs and data that are essential to his or her job.

• Put all of your security guidelines down in writing, and post them where all of your employees can see them.

You want your network security policy to be tight, but not completely rigid. That is, if a given security measure is proving to be unworkable or a serious inconvenience, be willing to adjust. You can often achieve the same result through different means.

Last, but certainly not least, review your network security on a regular basis. A network that’s secure today may not be secure a few months down the road. Hackers are smart and are constantly developing ways to bypass security measures. Be smarter than the hackers by staying on the cutting edge of network security technology.