This is a question I often ask myself. Do you ever think about how much personal information you place on the internet through out multiple sites? I mean someone with enough motivation and hacking skills could possibly piece together this information and steal your identity. I guess the scariest thing is credit card information. I really never thought twice about putting my credit card information on the internet when buying products, I mean so many people do it that it must be safe right? I have been working for an information security company, Accuvant, based here in downtown Denver for the past few months now. I was able to attend one of their recent seminars on different vulnerabilities company's must be aware of to secure their company and customer information on the web. It really opened my eyes to how easily someone with basic coding and hacking skills can get information of websites. In this demo, a man was able to hack a popular book retail site to manipulate and obtain database information. He also talked about how hackers can reproduce websites that aren't real, and prompt you to put your information in. It is pretty amazing how vulnerable the internet really is! Just a few months ago, my debit card was used in Florida for multiple purchases that I didn't do. I can only think that someone was able to get my credit card information off a retail site that I had purchased from in the past. I think this is something that consumers need to be more cautious about. It is scary to think how much information you have put out there on the web, and how it is just stored in all these databases that people could potentially hack into. Here is an article that relates to this issue.
ALSO, can anyone else not post comments? It won't even let me copy or past anything in the comments box. Does anyone know a solution for this issue? Thanks
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Internet security in general is something people are either overly aware of or completely ignorant of, sometimes both. Everyone is paranoid about getting s virus from the web but as you pointed out not many people worry about the fact that all their private information is out there on the web. It goes beyond the personal level too. The global economy would die without the Internet and companies are just as vulnerable as everyone else. If a group was so determined and skilled they could wreck alot of havoc on the global economy. I for one never let websites save my credit card info and am very weary about giving out any information that I don't think is necessary. It's work so far : D
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