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Being Hacked is Like Having Your Home Broken Into!
According to a recent report, internet thieves in the UK committed over 3.6 million cybercrimes in 2008. But for some strange reason the public does not seem all that concerned about the sharp rise internet crime. Perhaps this is because they believe cybercrime is something that only happens to large corporations. After all, most users do not have much to steal, so why would a hacker waste his time with them?
Well, it does make sense. Unfortunately, it is also wrong. Statistics show that petty crime on the internet is on the rise. In the last five years there has been a 207 percent increase in identity theft and fraud. Why is this happening? There are a number of reasonable explanations.
For one thing, we must consider public complacency. The popular misconception that hackers only go after the big fish has resulted in easy pickings for internet criminals. After all, hacking into a bank and stealing fifty-thousand pounds is extremely challenging and even the most adept cybercriminals are often caught. But pilfering one or two thousand pounds from a clueless online shopper is a cinch for most virtual thieves. How can you protect yourself from being hacked?
Contrary to popular belief, most hackers are not geniuses. They cannot break into secure websites in a matter of minutes like we see at the cinema. Rather, they use a limited number of fairly simple techniques to gain access to your computer.
The most common of these simple techniques is called phishing. This is when a person receives a fraudulent email that asks them to visit a specific website.
Probably the most common spurious missive is the banking alert notification. In this simple scam, a hacker sends a fake email that says there is a problem with his online banking account. When the user clicks on the link, he is taken to a phony website that asks him to enter his user ID and password. If the user is foolish enough to do so, the internet thief will have gained access to his online bank account. It’s as easy as that.