Internet Privacy And Security

How To Safeguard Your Broadband Internet Connection

by Jon Norwood - December 30th, 2006

Internet privacy and security is top of mind for many consumers and businesses today. So much so an entire industry has been created around this concern, and billions of dollars are spent annually to stay secure.

The terms privacy and security are often used together, but refer to completely different topics of discussion as well as protection methodologies.

Internet Privacy

Internet privacy refers specifically to identity protection or anonymity for the Internet user. Privacy allows a user to surf the web, download files, and make purchases without fear that their identity will become known to anyone without their consent. It is often argued that Internet privacy doesn’t exist, and that it should perhaps not exist. There are many levels of Internet privacy ranging from none at all too total anonymity. Obviously either extreme is rare, and total anonymity although theoretically possible is certainly not a reasonable expectation. There are many threats to Internet privacy some of which are unintentional, others being manufactured specifically to discover or steal the identity of an Internet user. The most common threats are:

Internet Profiling
Cookies
Keyloggers
Data Logging
Spyware

Internet Profiling exists on many levels and is in and of itself not malicious. A typical type of profile would track a unique event from start to finish and follow its progress across a web page. For example a user visits a site and reads the homepage for 10 seconds, then after viewing an article of interest clicks a link that will reveal more about that article. Within the article is a link to a product that the user clicks on and makes a purchase. The internet profile for that user would show how long they looked at the homepage, what link was clicked, where they went and what they purchased. The identity of the user is of no concern, only what they did on the site. This is the most typical type of profiling and offers little to no risk to a user. It is when the profile contains personal information that a user should be concerned.

If in the above example the profile contained the name, address, and credit card number used to make a purchase along with the surfing habits of the user then the company or others may start to have too much information.

Cookies are a well known problem for which there are many solutions. A cookie is a piece of information stored by the user that transmits information to web sits via the user’s browser. Cookies are used all the time for legitimate purposes, and in fact if a user has purchased something on the Internet they more than likely received a cookie when doing it. The problems begin when cookies are instructed to send their personal information about the user to sites other than the one that planted the cookie. If this is done it is possible to transmit personal information to any site visited at any time, and too many this is unacceptable. The easiest solution is to disable cookies in the browsers options tab and only enable them on a case by case basis when needed.

Keyloggers are simple software programs that record every keystroke a user makes and transmit that information to a hacker. These programs are tiny and use very little of a computers resources making them difficult to detect and easy to hide in other programs. Combine a keylogger with a tracking cookie and a hacker would know the sites a user went too, and any usernames and passwords that were typed as well as personal information entered such as a credit card number. Security suites such as Norton and McAfee are designed to detect keyloggers and can also remove a keylogger already on a computer. There is no legitimate use for keyloggers and their use is almost always malicious in nature.

Data logging occurs when a piece of software records specific events on a particular computer for future use. An example would be recording when a computer is in use, what programs were used and for how long, what web sites were visited, and more. The stored information isn’t a problem unless someone gets access to it, then of course that person would know the activities of the user for any amount of time. Logging can be cleared or disabled, and firewalls can prevent access to the information as well.

Spyware is an enormous term used all over the Internet to describe thousands of types of software designed to learn more about Internet users. Spyware in general is designed to record and transmit data about a user’s activities to a user who might use that information for some purpose. The most common use is by marketing firms that use the information to better target user’s for relevant products. This is frowned upon by many users, and spyware most certainly has a negative connotation associated with it. The aforementioned keylogger and cookie could be a type of spyware, or used in conjunction with spyware. Norton and McAfee offer a suite of products that target spyware, and the free Windows Defender is gaining in popularity.

Internet Security

Internet security in general refers to protecting a user’s computer from possible threats such as worms and viruses. Although related to Internet privacy, security has a focus on preventing unwanted incursions into a particular computer, as opposed to outgoing data. Several common elements of concern when discussing Internet security are:

Anti-Spyware Software
Anti-Virus Software
Firewalls

Anti-Spyware software is designed to not only remove malicious programs but also to detect and block them before they can be installed and do damage to a computer. Anti-Spyware software is widely regarded as a necessity for any Internet users, and several companies specialize in this type of product. Norton, McAfee and Windows Defender are good anti-spyware products, and are available via download from the specific company’s web site.

Anti-Virus software is similar to anti-spyware software in that it can remove malicious programs as well as “immunize” a computer to defend against future threats. Anti-Virus products tend to focus on protecting against viruses, worms, and Trojans. Trojans are programs that serve a specific purpose but contain another program that the user isn’t aware of that tend to do something malicious like keylog or install spyware or a virus. Anti-Virus software needs to be updated often as there are new viruses detected everyday. The major software providers such as Norton and McAfee offer a service called “Live Update” with their products. These software suites update themselves regularly to make sure they have the latest virus profiles.

A firewall is a hardware device or piece of software that protects a network or computer from outside attacks. A firewall can prevent outside connections from being made to a computer, as well as be programmed to prevent any data from being transmitted without the user’s permission. This can mean that even if malicious software is already on a computer the firewall can prevent it from sending out any user information. There are many free software firewalls available for download such as ZoneAlarm, and WindowsXP comes with one build in.

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