The Problems with Public Proxy Server
Posted by Ivan Petrov on Apr 14, 2011 | 0 comments
So you have found a nice free proxy server. Great! Well perhaps not!
There are many well known problems with free public proxy servers. Now it is true there are generally quite easy to find (especially if you know what you're looking) however the disadvantages can lead to an enormous waste of your time, and compromise your security and identity.
The biggest problem with public proxy servers they just are not reliable. Of course the principal reason for this is because so many people can use them, after all they are free proxy servers! With somebody people using them at the same time it's very easy for the server to get overloaded, thus leaving you with an extremely slow Internet connection. Even if you're lucky and managed to find a proxy server with very few users there is a strong chance that one of those few users is abusing it. Many Internet marketing packages include scrapers to find free proxy servers, packages such as scrapeboxand Xrumer need constant supply of proxies to operate. Just one extra user can easily swamp a single proxy. The fact that software packages such as Xrumer and scrapebox are using these proxies to spam the Internet means they are often blacklisted and can't be used for many websites.
Another major disadvantage of any public proxy server, and really the biggest disadvantage of all, is that they generally do not provide true anonymity at all. The reason for this is because so many public free proxy servers are actually run by hackers and spammers, or various other organisations determined to obtain your details. these people can see all the traffic that goes through their proxy server, and can therefore extract any information from that they require.
So if you have any concern for your online privacy you will not even consider using a free proxy server, and will instead subscribe to a paid service from a reputable company such as Identity Cloaker.
Read MoreProtect Your Identity – Don’t Be Scammed
Posted by Ivan Petrov on Nov 2, 2009 | 3 comments
The internet provides a whole host of opportunities that were not available just a short time ago. One less desirable opportunity that has become a part of using the internet is coming into contact with unscrupulous people who are using the internet to rip people off.And there is no shortage of opportunities to be ripped off if a person is not careful!
So to avoid being ripped off you have to make every effort fend off the many rip off artists that now prowl the net. There are some basic steps that you can be taken to protect yourself from internet rip off scams.
The first step to take is to make sure that you have a current version of a comprehension antivirus, anti spam, anti spyware program loaded on all computers that you use to access the internet. The cost of the program verses the risk and likelihood of attack is very good. The average software package can be purchased for fifty to sixty dollars.
The second step to take is to develop some routines that you follow when using the internet. Never go to a website that you are not certain is safe. Good antivirus protection software such Trend Micro will flag sites that are potentially being used to scam and rip people off. If that warning comes up do not progress onto that page.
Next if a website requests personal information without good reason, do not give out the information. The only site that you want to give personal information to is a site that you have contacted to do business with. If you haven’t contacted the site for the purpose of making a purchase or doing some kind of internet activity such as playing a game do not fill out anything that requests your personal information.
The next step to take is to avoid giving information in response to confirmation requests. Your bank or online payment website or online auction site will not request that you give personal information in response to an email. They will ask you to visit their site and update it. Scam artists are sending requests to confirm information for all kinds of different types of accounts including credit cards, online payment sites, bank accounts, college financial information, or anything else that might contain personal information.
Another key step you can take to protect yourself is to avoid websites that are typically used for scamming.Many different types of websites tend to be favorites for scammers.
Any website that offers you something for free in exchange for taking a survey that includes personal information should be avoided. Sites that offer adult content and sites that offer video games that you can play are also favorites of the scammer.
Both are addictive type sites that can catch you in a weak moment and steal your personal information. Another ploy that scammers use is dating and singles websites. The scammer will try to make a personal connection in order to build trust that leads to the theft of your personal information.
A little caution can go a long way in protecting oneself while on the internet. The reality is that you do not have to be ripped off. Many online scams these days are so well put together people don’t realise they were scammed even after the event!
We will take a look at some popular scams over the next few weeks.
Getting ripped off is not mandatory.
The Need To Protect Your Identity Online
Posted by Ivan Petrov on Sep 22, 2009 | 1 comment
Who you are has become a precious commodity to identity thieves. For this reason, many people now shred credit card statements, order items by cheque again, and pay with cash instead of debit card.
However, they often forget that the same hackers who stole personal information from corporate and government databases do not have to go so far to gather all the information of your personal identity online.
Why is it important to protect your identity online?
- If someone has your account information, researching your personal information can result in finding the answers to your personal questions. Finding your birth certificate can result in knowing the mother’s maiden name, or it could be as simple as asking that information of you at a genealogy chat room. Reading about your favorite sports teams could lead them to your most likely password. Reading your blog could lead them to know where you consider home to be, another common security question. Thus a little online sleuthing can yield the answers to the security questions that were meant to protect your accounts, and it is information we have often already made available if you do not take steps to protect your identity online.
- Your online identity can provide the information necessary to perform identity theft in the real, financial world. Without your current account information but armed with your real information, they may learn enough from your online identity enough to pretend to be you in the real world. Your name, address, and phone number are easily looked up. A social networking site can provide your employer and perhaps even income verification. Information on where you shop, your opinions of credit cards, your online portfolio analysis – all of this information attached to your online identity can give a would-be thief enough information to fill out the necessary forms to get a solid Gold credit card with your name on it.
- If you do not protect your identity online, it is easy for someone to gather all of your personal information and then pretend to be you. A former business partner who wants to discredit you through professional forums, an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend who wants to destroy your life online, all of the information to do can be gleaned unless you have already protected your personal identity online.
- Spear phishing is targeted phishing with the goal of either hacking someone’s computer or eliciting information out of them. This may be done by foreign corporations wanting technical information from a rival firm. It may be done by foreign nationals targeting those with security clearance in the United States. If you have not protected your identity online, you have given these predators the ability to approach you wrapped in a protective cloak. Potentially worse is that you have an insecure online identity, and the phishing attacks of these entities can be done from your online identity, leading law enforcement and searchers to your doorstep
. - Many companies now do social networking searches of potential employees. If your online identity is either less than perfect or easily made falsely slanderous, you will lose out on employment and consulting opportunities.
Thankfully there are ways to protect your identity online, and the use of anonymous browsing software is the first step we all should take.
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What’s Left of Your Privacy?
Posted by Ivan Petrov on Sep 17, 2009 | 0 comments
Should you have any doubts about the seriousness of how your privacy has been eroded, Google yourself.
Google your own name, then glance to the right. One of the sponsored advertising links is likely to offer quick online investigation services. For a nominal fee you can order up a dossier on yourself, with information culled from lending records, motor vehicle records, tax records, and court records. You might even get a photograph. It’s a little galling, perhaps, to see how easy it’s become to assemble the bare facts of your life, but no particular shock. These always were public records, after all. It’s just a question of increased access and speed.
What’s more discomfiting is the electronic penetration into records that were supposed to be confidential — your lifelong purchasing habits, for instance, or the results of personality tests for jobs, your school records, your voting history, credit report, resume, financial history, and the details of your adventures online (if any).
One compromised database behind the scenes interfaces with another; those two triangulate with two dozen more; soon they’ve wired together this document here, on the screen, a full constellation of the facts of your life.
This doesn’t even mention any of the more qualitative data about your odd tastes and your private desires that you may have shared on Twitter, on Facebook, on emails (which have always been non-secure), on your blog, to go on and on.
Extremely personal? Yes.
True? Most of it, yes.
Never mind any embarrassment, is this dangerous to you? Undeniably yes!
It’s not that the stakes are low. Ask anyone who’s had the ugly, expensive experience of having his identity stolen. This is old news, really. Reports of millions of compromised credit card numbers is so routine it’s hardly worth mentioning anymore, while the companies involved mumble weak apologies and promise to try to do better.
There’s recent news that the site Wikileaks, which traffics in making leaked documents available online to anyone, somehow got hold of almost two million postal codes in the U.K. and are publishing the lot. Not a direct privacy threat, but certainly it’s another mass of detailed data that will be used to support and extend the view of those who are interested in you.
What’s left to us? It’s important that we get past the old privacy questions, overtaken by events ten years ago, and deal with any residual indignation. It’s too late for that. Better to try to think through what comes next. It might have to do with correcting this data — some of it will be comically wrong — and minimize the damage it can do you. It might be identifying and cultivating the parts of your life that are free from observation, as a sort of psychological stronghold of identity.
Or it might be the opposite: learning to live with utter transparency, extending an open invitation to anyone who wants to look through.
What is true though if the information you find on this site will help minimize the possible damage caused through loss of privacy online.
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Offline or Online We All Need Freedom of Speech
Posted by Ivan Petrov on Sep 15, 2009 | 0 comments
The American founding fathers put forth the principle of freedom of speech to protect the right of all Americans to freely speak their mind.In past decades, this concept has been challenged on many levels, but the majority of attacks on freedom of speech have been struck down. We live in a society that heralds this right as a major part of being American. And in fact, this fundamental right is why many other nations around the world look to the United States for guidance in such areas.
The US is respected and revered for its principles in this area, and it is the foundation on which a truly democratic society is built.
Although the right of freedom of speech was developed in large part to protect the freedom of the press, with the advent of electronic media and the personal use of computers worldwide, it is now necessary to extend the concept of freedom of speech to these platforms. If a person’s right to gather peacefully, worship independently, and maintain their own opinion applies to all other aspects of life, shouldn’t it be that way online as well?
In reality, the Internet is simply an extension of our social, commercial, and financial medias, and should be awarded the same protections as they enjoy. Although there are those that argue that the Internet allows for an unprecedented level of information dissemination, there is absolutely no reason that this data should be any more scrutinized than what goes on in daily papers, television shows, or on the radio.
This is not to say that there should be no regulation; the Internet simply merits the same level of examination that all other media outlets require.
Having freedom of speech on the Internet is just an extension of having freedom of speech in all other areas of society. Of course, this is not something that should be taken for granted. As with all other forms of media or expression, there are those that abuse this right, and they should always be dealt with accordingly.
On the Internet, the same standards of decency, honesty, and intent should be upheld as is dictated by the law; however, this is where the government’s involvement should end. As is often argued, it should be up to individuals, parents, educators, and scholars to dictate what is or is not appropriate for themselves, not legislators.
There are those that argue that it is unlawful or immoral to allow online visitors to have access to material that some might find offensive. However, just as a consumer can choose whether or not to view a Rated R movie, listen to music with a warning label, or view legal pornography, so too can an individual decide whether or not he will navigate to a certain webpage on the Internet.
In short, freedom of speech is linked to freedom of choice. The majority of Americans would champion both of these rights. Regulating speech on the Internet would be a slippery slope leading to the demise of freedom of speech overall.
Because computers rule so many daily lives, the government’s involvement in legislating its content would undoubtedly open the door to the demise of that very freedom in many other areas of society that the courts have so diligently tried to protect.
Throughout history, the newspaper business, the television and movie industry, and musicians have had to fight for their right to speak their mind. In most cases, they have won. This pattern should be upheld, and freedom of speech on the Internet is the most logical stepping stone in a path to a continued free society.
We are not all lucky enough to live in a country where these freedoms are granted to all, and those of you at risk from persecution would do well to protect your online identity as best possible.
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