I have been hearing a lot about scams and the like recently and it has prompted me to think about the whole "buying online is cool" thing and wonder if there are some idiots out there that are going to ruin the whole thing for us law abiding folk?
Now if you are wonder what in God's name I am talking about, I like to call it the "Pub Quotient". This is the ratio of idiots to normal people at the pub. The idiots are the ones that smash glasses, cause fights and ruin everyone else's evening. Now on the web the ratio I would expect is even smaller than the pub quotient which I rate at about 2%. I reckon the web may be a hundredth of that. Yet they affect a whole lot more people in a more sinister, intrusive and criminal way.
Who are "they"? "They" are the people that create viruses, install spy ware, and try to skim your credit card details. "They" are the types of people that can type faster than me and would definitely kick my butt in World of Warcraft. "They" are the types of people that you'd love to lock in a room with yourself just so you can teach them a lesson... right?
Wrong!!!
"They" are sophisticated criminals that have honed their art, are often affiliated with terrorist organisations and are so powerful that, often, they are not caught. "They" can earn millions of dollars in a day by stealing from the innocent in ways that can both devastate and also not even be noticed. "They" can skim a dollar from your bank account, and a million others and keep doing this daily until you notice. Have you checked lately?
So what can we do about this?
Cyber-criminals are the new train robbers, and like trains had to employ more guards after Ronnie Biggs, so does the every day Internet user need to up security to fight the threat. The threat now is global, as we let the world into our offices, bedrooms and lounge-rooms through the web. The world sits with you at lunch and talks to you while you watch TV or listen to your iPod at night. We have let this into our lives without really analysing what we are doing.
Much like a stalker watching his victims for visual pleasure, cyber-criminals have information as their vice. They get information by hiding things on your PC watching you. They don't watch you physically; they watch your fingers, what you type, sites you go to and usernames and passwords that you enter. It's that simple.
They can even use your PC to do the dirty work for them in something called a "denial-of-service" attack. By installing certain programs on your computer they can use your PC, without you even knowing, to bring down sites, and on occasion entire networks.
This was seen on ABC recently when the Federal Police were digitally incapacitated by a cyber attack on their network so large that it took down the BigPond network across Australia's east coast. For these types of attacks unwitting pedestrians' computers are used, without their knowledge or consent.
The best thing to do to fight these threats is to install anti-virus from a reputable company so that you are protected and so that your computer wont be used against others in these denial-of-service attacks. Sophos Small Business Security Solutions 2.5 is a fantastic place to start. Sophos's products have earned them awards and accolades from large independent testers such as InfoWorld, Virus Bulletin and SC Magazine. You can see the full credit's here http://www.sophos.com/products/reviews/. This is important. To be tried and tested and succeed against others in the land of independent testing is a massive honour, and one held by few companies globally.
Sophos Small Business Security Solutions 2.5 is Antivirus, Spyware Removal and Client Firewall all in one. There are three levels, so it caters for all budgets. The basic level includes automatic updates, 24/7 support and works on PC, Mac and Servers.
If you would like for us to give you a demo of Sophos Small Business Security Solutions 2.5, just contact me by clicking here.
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