The Vulnerability Of Information Compromise Online

Our internet behavior deviates significantly from our behavior in public life. We do things we'd never ordinarily do, go to places we'd never normally go to, and talk in ways we would typically never talk. Given the privacy of a home environment and the seeming anonymity of a computer interface, most people are likely to relax.

For example, many adults enjoy pornography, but you're hardly likely to walk into a bookstore and ask where the Playboy magazines are. The internet allows us to enjoy little things like that with discretion... but how discreet are we really being? As it turns out, not as much as we would like to think.

The internet seems safe enough, but in fact practically everything we do in it can be watched, recorded, and sent out to third parties without us ever knowing. There are predators who take advantage of this, too. Some are content with merely publicizing things you'd like to be kept private. Others will try to steal your identity or even blackmail you.

Internet-based activities are dangerous because they offer only an illusion of security along with the actual convenience of the net. We're tempted and encouraged to let loose and unleash those inner urges while the rest of the world could very well be watching. Would you be comfortable with your friends knowing about your every conversation online? How about your family? Probably not.

This goes for women as well as men! Would you not care if someone found out you shopped for vibrators online? This is the kind of awkwardness and shame that we should all work harder to avoid by keeping ourselves more safe.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to actually keep every last bit of information one hundred percent secure. Even rampant paranoia only goes so far. And no one wants to be paranoid, right?

But maybe there's just cause for it. Every web site you go to leaves a trail on your computer that others can trace. Not only that, but whenever you delete a file, that file isn't instantly destroyed. It is merely set to be written over by other data, and until that happens, the file is still there and can be found by anyone with the know-how to look.

Identity thieves are capable of snatching your personal information through clever trojans and similar malware programs. They make use of complex spyware that tracks your every internet movement and sends that information back to the criminal. To what end? A bad one, undoubtedly.

Were you aware of the existence programs that make themselves invisible to the user? Very often, this is done so that they can keep track of what you're doing on the computer without your knowledge. And that goes for even each individual tap on the keyboard.

A few years ago, I myself had a run-in with an information leak through the internet. My identity was stolen, and then it got even worse. The thief acquired credit cards in my name, and you can imagine what happened from there.

Mind you, all this happened without me knowing about it... at first. When I started looking for jobs in the fall, a potential employer called to ask about my shockingly bad credit rating. Apparently I was thousands of dollars in debt! Once I did a credit check on myself, I verified it and figured out the situation.

It took years to undo the damage that one malicious person caused. Even today, I still suffer the ramifications of it. Random phone conversations with collection agents isn't fun!

So, that was when I started looking into finding ways to protect my computer and my identity. I figured out what people were tracking my information. I figured out what information they wanted. And most importantly, I figured out how to keep that info save from others.

Take it from me, and invest in a good firewall. More than that, get a true file-shredding program instead of relying on the Recycle Bin. There are tools to help keep yourself safe, but if you don't use them, you, too, could be a victim.