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Take back your privacy surfing the Internet. Part I: Why You need Anonymous surfing.
by B.M. QUENUM
Sometimes ago I asked a friend to install a security software, if he wants to continue to chat with me or speak on the phone with me over the Internet. He asked what's the fuss. He has nothing to hide.
Well, I told him, listen to this: Do you know that unscrupulous people are roving over the Net to commit mischief? Yes he replied, but I am not a target, because I am a small fry.
The question is not to be a small fry or not, I replied to him and explained to him that these mischievous people are scanning the Net, collecting honest people IP address in order to use the IP addresses to pose as the people they belong to, in order to perpetrate mischief on their names. There, he became more attentive and I explained to him how it is possible to use, for instance, Microsoft Messenger to pretend being another person. He was baffled. Yes, that's possible and many surfers do not know that.
Yes, knowing someone IP address is having direct access to his computer (making some configuration tricks on the attacking computer) and, from there, acting as the owner of the attacked computer; sending spams from the attacked computer on behalf of the legitimate owner, and using the attacked computer as a dispatching tool. Etc.
My friend asked me if Anti-Virus, Firewalls and other Anti-Spyware tools are not ultimate shields against the attacks [1, 2, 3]. Yes and no. To be active and efficient these protective tools need to be up to date to the latest patch. How many people perform the daily update of Anti-virus, Firewalls and AntiSapyware installed on their computers? If the updating is automatically performed by the protective client, that's fine. And some of these do not perform automatic updates; and if the owner is negligent, he or she is prone to attacks. Heard about Zero-Day attacks? Click on the green link to learn more about it.
I asked my friend if he knows that some virus are engineered to "control" and deactivate Anti-Virus clients? He was taken aback. Yes, some virus can do that.
Now my friend was fully interested, and listening intensely. So I continue making him aware of the dangers of surfing the Net.
There are also other people who want to know about your surfing habits
Curiosity is the door to knowledge. Curious people have hunger for knowledge. But apart from learning, nobody is ready to accept curiosity of people who want to spy on their lifestyle. Do you? I don't. That's why, even in a public place, we search for some privacy to talk to a friend or a love one. We do not want to have anyone listening.
Increasingly, however, the Internet gives us fewer such places for privacy. Website hosts want to know about your interests; the industry wants to know about your online activities; state agencies and intelligence services want to know as much as possible about the citizens of their country. And competitors spy on you to know your strategy, intercepting your mails (yes!) To protect yourself and your privacy, you must take action.
Surfing anonymously can protect you and give you some privacy back. Next delivery (online on July 15, 2009) will expose tools to surf anonymously, avoiding hackers and mischievous people's traps; and making calls over the Internet without being spied on by states's agencies or competitors.
ABOUT THE AUTOR: Dr. Bienvenu-Magloire Quenum is a Business
Planner/ the principal of Dr.
Quenum & Associates, IBC. He accumulated a vast computing experience
dating back to the late mid 1980s, and is sharing it with visitors to this site since
1997. You may request assistance for day-to-day computing tips login
to the support board available at this link. And thanks you for visiting the Control your Desktop section of Africabiz Online.
At the International Trade Centre's FINDATA available at this link, you have a searchable database of financial institutions (major banks, credit insurance agencies, export credit agencies, etc.,) in developing countries that support international trade.
You select a country, financial product, and type of institution, and FINDATA will list financial institutions that fit your criteria. Clicking on the name of an institution, you will get listing of financial resources (export credits, forfaiting, letter of credit, etc.,) offered by the institution and relevant contact information.
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