Sometime in 2010 I realized just how easy it was becoming
for virtually anyone to become an amateur computer "hacker." There
was a lot of buzz about a little program called Firesheep that made it
trivially simple to hi-jack the online accounts of anyone who happened to be
using the same public Wi-Fi hotspot you were.
You know, the one at the library or local Panera Bread for
instance. If you could surf the web you could download Firesheep and become a
"hacker." It was that easy to use.
I realized that my laptop was wide open to this very same
hi-jacking technique plus many others. In other words, when I sat down with a
hot mug of coffee and activated my laptop's Wi-Fi for some serious web surfing
anyone nearby could, without much trouble, hi-jack my Facebook account, capture
my various passwords or check out what I was searching for on Google and I
might never know until it was too late!
As if all that
weren't bad enough I thought of all the other ways my privacy could be, in fact
was being, compromised:
Ø
Websites I visited could see my geographic
location and other identifying information.
Ø
If my computer were stolen the thief could sift
through my digital photos and other confidential files at their leisure.
Ø
Intrusive government agents could access and
perhaps copy my laptop files at airports or border crossings in any number of
countries.
Ø
My system could become hostage to a virus or
other mal-ware and I might lose all my irreplaceable photos and documents.
Right here's the embarrassing thing: I 'd understood all
this for years however had actually done virtually nothing about it even though
I've been involved in the Information Technology industry because 2001 when I
got my first industry requirement certification.
I 'd dabbled with various PC safety and privacytechniques at numerous times however had always stopped short of really
pulling together the understanding I had and actually making my pc safe and protected.
That altered for me when I understood that my
"little" brother could with a couple of clicks, take control of my
Facebook account, not to mention any variety of various other accounts I make
use of. And who was the computer expert once again ?! I thought about how
ridiculous I 'd feel if I had my Facebook or Amazon account hi-jacked when I could
easily do something to prevent it.
I set out to freshen myself on what the privacy threats out
there were and exactly what I could do to quickly and easily lower my danger of
falling victim to a friendly Facebook hack from my brother or something far more
sinister. I quickly recognized that it truly isn't as complicated as it
initially seems to be.
Sure, I've studied pc systems for time but when I pulled all
the details together and invested a little time setting up a test notebook
making use of the techniques I 'd gathered I thought, "Hey, this is
something anyone who is comfortable with web browsing can do if I show them
exactly what to do!".
With that in mind I developed an overview of reveal you
exactly what you should do to keep malicious kinds from stealing your
identification, snooping through your digital images and searching your
confidential files.
