Many of us who use the internet, especially those of us who have “direct connections”, do not realize how vulnerable we are to having our personal information stolen by hackers. If you use cable modem, DSL or T1 to connect to the internet,

you are literally connected 24/7, unlike dial-up users who disconnect at the end of a session. Just logging off of websites and closing your internet browser is not enough to prevent this type of access. Even when you are away from your computer, your internet connection is always “on.” This makes it so easy for criminals to hack into your system; it is like having the front door to your home open for anyone to come in to. Surfers view the internet as a way to look at various websites, but it is just as easy for other users to find your computer and look at you! The criminal can even place some sort of virus on your computer to make it accessible to them whenever they wish. What is worse, is that if a criminal gains control of your computer, they can use your computer to commit their crimes and you would be held responsible.

There are ways to protect your self from this crime. Our next few articles will address how to take action against this type of crime and protect your self.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Articles Concerning Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.