[citw150] Re: Lesson 3 - Question 6
- From: "Ronald Wilson" <rwils014@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <citw150@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 18:44:14 +0200
Robert is right about the on line auctions being the number one source of
complaints. Who would think it was a fake if it looks like email from Ebay.
Like I said before, I have received a fraud email thinking it was from Ebay
needing to update their records. You can tell if it is from Ebay by going
onto their site and clicking help and Security Center. Be careful of what
information you give over the internet.
http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial/spoof_2.html
Ronald Wilson
ronald.wilson014@xxxxxxxxxx
Famous Quotation
"Good wine needs no bush."
-----Original Message-----
From: citw150-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:citw150-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Robert Morris
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 6:08 PM
To: list citwlist
Subject: [citw150] Lesson 3 - Question 6
Societal Issues
The U.S. Constitution guarantees every American the right to privacy. As
many people have found out the hard way, the interney theatens this right.
Although the internet is the one most robust information channel for
everyone in the world and many companies and education institutions can no
longer function with out it, it is a serious threat to our privacy. The
problem is that even with all of the media and attention identity theft is
getting (much of it done through the internet), most users are unaware of
how REAL this threat actually is. Everyone in this course has most likely
heard of Ebay and maybe even bought something from it. According to the
Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), online auctions are the number one
source of complaints about internet fraud which made up of 46.1% of internet
fraud complains in 2002 (you can obtain this information at:
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/2002_IFCCReport.pdf).
Another threat to users' privacy is spyware. Spyware is a surveillance tool
that can gather user information and activity without the user's knowledge.
Spy software can record your keystrokes as you type them, passwords, credit
card numbers, sensitive information, where you surf, chat logs, and can even
take random screenshots of your activity. Basically whatever you do on the
computer is completely viewable by the spy. You do not have to be connected
to the Internet to be spied upon. The most common way people can get
spyware loaded on their PC is by downloading and installing popular music
sharing freeware that silently installs other software without their
knowledge used to monitor their PC activities, however there are also many
other ways for Spyware to infect your PC. Here are a few things to look for
that could mean you have spyware on your PC:
1. You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press
Enter to start the search. Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar
site handles the search.
2. A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there.
No matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later.
3. Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. If you're a
Windows 2000/XP user, launching the Task Manager and clicking the Processes
tab reveals that an unfamiliar process is using nearly 100 percent of
available CPU cycles.
4. A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't
request or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back
after removal.
5. And the final sign is: Everything appears to be normal. The most devious
spyware doesn't leave traces you'd notice, so scan your system anyway
This information was obtained from pcmag.com. You can read about it at:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1524266,00.asp. There is also some
good information about how to aviod spyware. I hope this societal issue
relates to you and teaches you something that you didn't know. I'll look
forward to your replies.
Robert Morris
Contact Information:
email: rdmorris@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."
Other related posts:
