Are They Watching You Online?

When surfing the Internet you probably take your anonymity nfor granted, most of us do.

Tapping phones, listening to confidential conversations, nreading others' e-mail messages seems like something that nonly happens in spy movies to "other" people.

However, you probably don't realize just how much ninformation about yourself has the potential to get ntransmitted across the Internet every time you go online.

Every computer connected to the Internet has "ports" that nallow it to connect. A "port" doesn't mean you have a nphysical hole or opening in your computer's case or nhardware, but it does mean you have openings through which ninformation passes back and forth between your computer and nthe Internet.

Depending on the type of connection (dial up, LAN, cable,
DSL), you may have several openings for potential mischief nby hackers, malicious code or viruses.

Computers with dedicated connections rate the most at risk.
If someone or something gets into one of these ports and ninto your computer, they can potentially watch everything nyou do and see all the data you enter, including social nsecurity numbers and credit card information.

The easiest way to defeat this problem involves using a nfirewall. Firewalls, simple and inexpensive software navailable at virtually any office supply or computer store, nblock the most common ports hackers use to enter your ncomputer.

Firewalls also help you detect and block unauthorized ntransmission of information from your computer to the
Internet. This adds a significant measure of protection if nyou get infected with a Trojan horse virus that tries to
"phone home" to the hacker with your sensitive information.

If you'd like to test your connection for vulnerability to nattack, log on to http://security1.norton.com and run the nvarious diagnostics. I would strongly advise anyone nconnected to the Internet through DSL or cable to get and nuse a firewall to protect against unauthorized access.

Infected with "Spyware?"

Previously we talked about unauthorized access to your ncomputer. But a growing problem online with people watching nyou and your activities involves using programs you nwillingly place on your computer.

Commonly called "Spyware," this refers to any program that ntransmits information about you to someone else without you nknowing exactly what gets sent. The main purpose of Spyware ninvolves tracking your surfing habits so advertisers know nwhich targeted ads to send you.

Most Spyware basically comes onto your computer bundled nwith other software applications, as a standalone program, nor as modification to the HTML on a web page.

Regardless of how you get it, you need to understand nexactly what information gets transmitted about you so you ncan decide whether to keep or uninstall the software. Plain nand simple, these Spyware programs can potentially reveal nextremely sensitive information about you and your online nhabits.