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Feeling
Safe?
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[******NOTE******
The information on this page has become
somewhat outdated and is best viewed for
historical interest only. However,
security and privacy have continued to be
major issues and many solutions are now
available to users. An excellent up-to-date
discussion of the concepts of Privacy,
Security, and "Virtual Private Network"
services (VPNs) are offered by IVPN
, and by Anonymster.
See PCMagazine's comparison
of a number of VPN paid services and their discussion
of free VPN's, and Andrey Doichev's
analysis of current
top free VPN's
. Encrypted storage of information has
become a major concern as well, particularly
with the proliferation of cloud-based storage
(see discussion by PCMagazine
for an analysis and comparisons).
Finally, well-informed and articulate
presentations of a number of timely security
topics can be found in the Information
Security Blog published by Comparitech.
************]
So computers and the Internet have their
security problems,
what can a user do about it?
As discussed earlier,
there are many different things that one can do
to protect their computers and information from
would be hackers.
But how does one go about getting these
protections?
How exactly might someone write an
encryption code or put up a firewall, especially
with little to no knowledge of computer
programming?
This is a common problem for many, but
rest assured, there are many solutions out
there. There
of course, are different programs that can be
bought at stores or downloaded from the
Internet.
Besides buying or downloading all these
different programs, there is a much easier way
for companies or individuals to acquire the
programs to protect their security and protect
their privacy.
By simply going online and running a
search on Internet security, one can find just
about everything they want in protection in the
form of different organizations and companies
that provide just about every service one could
possibly want. There are so many out there, both for companies and for
individuals, how does one possibly choose the
right one?
It all depends on what type of
protections and security someone is looking for,
but this section will discuss several of these
services just to show what is available to the
everyday web surfer.
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Anonymizer
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Still not
convinced that just about everything anyone
does on the Internet can be tracked, or that
almost anyone can get access to a computer at
any time?
Well, just click here
to get a little example of what anyone with a
little know-how can find out about any
Internet user.
As easy as it is for someone to find
out this information, it is just as easy for
someone with the right motivation to read
emails, follow everything someone looks at online, or get any other information that might
be transmit over the Internet (such as credit
card numbers).
Anonymizer
is just one site that can provide an Internet
user with the protections that they are
looking for.
The site describes almost perfectly
the reason why individual users should protect
themselves:
“Whenever
you visit a Website unprotected, you not only
expose yourself to risk of invasion, you
provide information about yourself, that can
including your viewing habits, your search
terms, your geographical location, your
address, phone number, employment details,
your credit card numbers, and more.”
(www.anonymizer.com/3.0/why.shtml)
This site
provides many different services to the
individual user (and in the future to
businesses).
Some of these services include Anonymizer
Surfing, Anonymizer
Email, Anonymizer
Window Washer, and SSH/SecureCRT.
Anonymizer Surfing prevents outside parties
from viewing and keeping track of a user’s
surfing and from acquiring personal
information (such as credit card numbers). Anonymizer
Window Washer is a program that clears
basically anything a user wants—from the
browser’s cache and history to emptying the
recycle bin and temporary folders, all of this
happening whenever the user want it to.
SSH/SecureCRT encrypts a user’s
Internet interactions with a secure link from
the user’s computer and Anonymizer’s, which
generates the encryption.
Anonymizer Email is the only free
service—some can be used for free on a trial
basis but the user must subscribe to
Anonymizer.com to receive full use of the
services.
This really seems to be a pretty good
site for providing privacy and security, as it
offers many of the same things as other pages
as well as some things above and beyond other
sites (such as the Anonymizer Window Washer).
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Internet Security Systems
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A
company more aligned towards providing security
for businesses, ISS is another in the line of
many companies out there ready to help protect
people from the dangers that come with the
Internet.
“While there’s no way to achieve 100%
protection, it is possible to dramatically
reduce risk through comprehensive security
management” (www.iss.net/company/profile) (ISS
points out that while protecting the user or
business through the use of specialized software
or through the use of something such as
Anonymizer.com or Somebody
(a service similar to that of Anonymizer.com) is
beneficial, better security can be provided by a
service that fits itself to the customers needs. ISS
does exactly this, “through broad-based needs
analysis, identification of network resources
and access requirements, and data driven
implementation and management services.”
(www.iss.net/company/profile)
To this end, ISS provides several
different services. SAFEsuite Security is the
broad name for all that ISS provides to a
company. Included
in this is an assessment of the companies
current system, analyzing it for weaknesses and
helping determine the different services that
ISS can provide to best help the company.
Included in this are checks of the
network, checks of the system, and checks of any
databases.
Another service that is included in the
SAFEsuite is RealSecure, an intruder detection
system that allows a company to monitor their
systems for any improper access or intrusion. While
ISS helps companies analyze their security
systems and provide improvements for the
systems, it also provides an important
consultative service, which provides the
companies with help in the design and
implementation of security systems, as well as
instructional programs (to help teach employees
how to use and manage the security system). ISS
is also involved with helping e-business,
including helping insure
e-businesses.
ISS is one of the more comprehensive
Internet security services out there.
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Security Services
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Anonymizer.com
and Internet Security Systems are just two of
the many companies out there that provide
individual users with better security and more
guarantees of their privacy. Others include SecurityPortal.com,
Idzap,
PRIVACYX.COM,
Somebody,
and Shields
UP!, just to name a few.
These all offer similar services, meant
to improve the security and privacy of the user. The
important thing to remember with the Internet
and security is that each user is different,
each company different, as are the hackers who
want to find out a credit card number or mess up
a company’s system.
Each user needs to determine what risk
they are at when using the Internet, and needs
to select the right protections or services that
will help secure them the best.
There are plenty of options out there
to beef up the security on any system, and it is
just a matter of choosing what is best for the
individual or company.
Back
to Psybersite |
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This
project was produced for PSY 380, Social
Psychology of Cyberspace, Spring 2000, at
Miami
University. All graphics in these
pages are used with permission or under fair use
guidelines, are in the public domain, or
were created by the authors. Last revised:
6/14/19
Comments and Questions to R. Sherman.
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