Eight Ways to Protect Your Identity Online

Identity theft is rampant. Likely you have heard the horror stories and have heard from others who have been scammed. After hearing these stories, you probably are careful with credit cards in public, shred bills that are outdated, and even keep all of your account information under tight lock and key. What about when you are on the Internet, though? There are predators out there just waiting to use the Internet to steal identities and defraud you the first chance they get.

In today’s world, our lives revolve around Internet usage. We use it to research, communicate, and even store information. With that being the case, it is not likely we will just stay off the Internet in order to prevent identity theft. Instead, there are some ways you can protect yourself when you are online.

One thing you can do is get an internet privacy tool package. There are several companies that offer suites of privacy tools. They usually include some sort of programming that will stop on-lookers from seeing into your files. Many will even block your ISP from seeing your information, which is a good thing. Their only job is to supply you with service.

Second, make sure any suite your purchase includes deletion of history files, cookies, and cache files. There are some software programs that include the ability to delete history and any file that will put your privacy in danger to the same standards as the department of defense.

Third, if you don’t go as far as a suite of tools, make sure you have a good firewall. It should block hackers and guard you against viruses and worms so that your private information is secure. Some firewall programs will make your computer basically invisible. Hackers won’t even be able to tell your computer is online, which in itself is good protection from them.

Fourth, be aware of scams that can steal your identity information when you are online. One such scam will sell you some high demand item at a very low price. It is such a good price that you will likely be excited at the chance. The scammer tells you to pay nothing until the item is shipped. The person that sends you the product will have gotten it with someone else’s credit card. Once you receive the item, you will then own stolen property. After you pay with your credit card number (since you’ve received the new goods), the scammer will then have your credit card number to use for his next scam.

Fifth, be aware of emails that seem to be from reputable companies. Some emails may appear to come from companies that you are doing business with. For instance, there are scams out there where an email will come to you claiming to be from Paypal or Ebay. The message will ask you to “verify” your information. Companies that are reputable will never ask for such information over the Internet, or at all for that matter. When in doubt, always contact the company on your own to find out if the email is legitimate. Even if it is, try to find a different way to verify your information where it is more secure.

Sixth, know the policies of any company with which you work over the Internet. Most will never ask you for your personal information via email. If you know what they will and will not do, it is easier for you to sniff out scams or fraud that is designed to steal your identity. You will also be able to help others with the same problem and protect family computers or business identities.

Seventh, know what you can and cannot do. For instance, you should know that you couldn’t, on your own, delete files from windows to a point where they are completely unrecoverable. Because windows cannot do that, you are always at risk if you do not take other precautions against identity theft via the Internet.

Finally, consider some sort of “cleaner” software. There are programs that will delete browser and system usage tracks, but it will also shred pictures and auto-generate secure passwords for you. Good “cleaner” software will also prevent new spyware from finding its way to your computer and hard drive. Protecting your identity is important in protecting your business, your reputation, and even the means by which you live. So, getting the right “cleaner” software can be a big step in increasing your identity protection when you are online.

Three Benefits to Using an Internet Remailer

Why would a person want to use an Internet remailer service, and for that matter, exactly what is an Internet remailer? Let’s take the second question first. A remailer is anonymous, and is also called an anonymous server. An Internet remailer is free. The Internet remailer allows a person to send email to a person without that person knowing the name or email address that it came from. Internet remailers are generally free services, usually designed by people for their own personal use who then allow others to use them as well. The reason for them being free is rather simple: the people using them are concerned with privacy and are not likely to give out a credit or debit card number.

Why would you use an Internet remailer? Let’s say you live in a community that has political controversy. You want to express your political views to others inside and outside of the community but wish to be anonymous to avoid retaliation. This could for example be a political controversy. By using an Internet remailer you are able to stay anonymous and still get your views across.

Now, let’s say that you are looking for a new job. There are dozens of job boards out there to post your resume on, but you know that the HR people at your current company scan the job boards themselves, and if they find out you are looking for another job, then you are in danger of loosing the job you have prematurely. Using an Internet remailer allows you to target the companies you’d like to apply to secretly. You won’t have to worry about the boss finding out what you are doing.

Another use of Internet remailng services is to protect a whistle blower. If you work for the government for instance, and you discover something illegal going on and want to expose it, but want to do so in a manner that will keep you safe from retaliation an Internet remailer is useful. Imagine if, during the Watergate years, the Internet had existed. Rather than calling Woodward and Bernstein at the Washington Post and arranging dangerous meetings in parking garages, Deep Throat would simply have used an Internet remailer to send Woodward and Bernstein the information they needed.

How does an Internet remailer work? For a good example, look at the Internet remailer that was operated by Johan Helsingius. Helsingius is President of a Helsinki, Finland Company. When his service was in operation you could write to someone through his company and his computer would strip away your address and your name, replacing it with a dummy address and it would then forward the message to the recipient. His computer would also forward you your new anonymous address. Helsingius recently ceased operation of his remailer due to harassment from groups who disapproved, and because as he said there were many other services doing the same thing, so his was no longer as necessary as he felt it once was. There are more than a dozen public Internet remailers active right now, and the numbers change daily as they tend to come and go. This comes from the fact that they require time and money to maintain and produce no income.

Helsingius was interviewed in Wired Magazine recently and in the article he compared Internet remailers to telephones with caller ID and anonymous calling features. When caller ID first came out, many people were upset that their ID would be known. They were used to the phone being an anonymous device. That quickly led to an anonymous calling feature. Since the beginning of the telephone people were used to anonymity, and expected the same thing in email. Helsingius also stated that he was inspired in creating his Internet remailer by the oppression he had witnessed in the former Soviet Union. As a native of Finland he grew up next door to the Soviet Union and saw how they controlled ways of spreading information. For instance, in the Soviet Union if you owned a photocopier or a typewriter, samples of the product produced by the typewriter or copier had to be supplied to the government. Then they could trace information to you that came off of your machine. This control of the information flow is contrary to western thought and the ideal of freedom of speech and expression that is best exemplified in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, part of the American Bill of Rights. Helsingius believed that in creating a way to send email anonymously he was doing his part for freedom of speech.