Urban myths about online safety

There is almost no one nowadays who does not use Internet based on user accounts and passwords. The Internet contained much of our personal lives, confidential data and information. And because security is an issue that creates problems and dilemmas of the existence of the Internet, Professor Alan Woodward explores some of the wrong concepts about how to stay safe online.

Like all myths and this contains a grain of truth. However it is possible to recognize that you give your consent and hackers often rely on the fact that computers are configured to allow certain kinds of downloadable online shares. And this has led to the phenomenon "by taking". 

These acquisitions may occur in several ways as hackers constantly develop new methods that not even professional computer support services are able to follow. Perhaps the most insidious techniques rely on what is known as in line frames or "iframes". 

The intent of iframes is to allow websites that have a mix of variable and static content to be constructed so that they will use computer resources efficiently. For the first time this technique was introduced in 1997, iframes essentially allow you to embed "active" material taken from elsewhere. Abusing iframes can secretly take other websites - what you see, because they can be smaller than one pixel - will take you to a page that contains potentially “bad content”.


A variant of this myth is that many websites can be downloaded to your computer without having to click "OK". You may need to click, but the click does not do what you think you do. A typical trick is to get you to the compromised site to pop-up - usually ads - which you can simply close them, if you are interested. The act of closing the publication can be many clicks to initiate a download. Focus on you This leads to a second myth, which only discredited sites containing malware. Yes, it is true that some less reputable sites are affected for this, but many well-known websites are often compromised. A classic example is where a website allows you to leave comments. Anyone can set up a comment that contains code and code can contain IFRAME. "New York Times" revealed this in 2009, when they were tricked into publishing ads that encourage readers to take the fake antivirus software. 

The third myth is more personal. Most of us believe that they are too insignificant to be attacked because hackers are only interested in big fish. Well, hackers usually spend a lot of time in reaching their goal. However, most criminals have long understood that their return on investment is much higher than the targeting of very small value targets, like you and me. Digital Identity Delusion of fourth myth may shock many "my computer does not contain anything of value" Sorry to disappoint you, but your computer is a treasure for criminals. Through your computer they receive valid Internet addresses, and can be present on your behalf. And of course through your computer can reach your bank accounts. 

Some people think anti-virus is safe solution. I fear that this is no longer true. The fact is that any involvement on the Internet is risk. How to protect yourself from hackers: - Antivirus is a good way, but it can only protect you from the threats that are known. - Do not open emails or attachments from people you do not know. - Block the inappropriate commercial message with too small value - Use a unique password for each different account. - Use passwords that contain personal information and are a combination of letters and digits. - When you visit a website make sure it is valid. You will check the information like address and phone.