Internet Safety: Do you know how to be safe(r) online?
Internet Safety Specialist Jessica Stratton '99 leads our April 2007 Web Chat
Jess Stratton '99 joined us on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 for a Web chat to respond to your questions about Internet use and safety.
Although using the Internet is regular part of our everyday lives, there's an aura of mystery surrounding it that makes many of us uneasy. What do we need to know to protect our children online, prevent credit card and identify theft, and keep our computers virus-free? Is it really possible to be safe online? Answer these questions and others in this timely chat and find out what you can do to make your computer environment safer for you and your family.
Jessica Stratton graduated with a degree in Communication Studies from the University of Rhode Island in 1999. With a particular focus on Internet use and online safety, she works on technology projects with a variety of populations --from teaching third graders how to use the Internet to helping companies work smarter. A member of the URI Speakers' Bureau and a contributor to several print and Web magazines, textbooks, and online syndicated columns, Jess owns and operates
Solace, a computer training facility in Westerly, R.I.
Web chats are a feature of the URI Division of University Advancement electronic communications program. Answers to other frequently asked questions can be found in our FAQs. If you have other questions about Web chats, please contact the URI Publications Office at 401-874-2075 or email: eservices@advance.uri.edu
Wendy Bucci, Moderator: Good afternoon everyone. Joining us for today's chat is Jess Stratton '99, an internet safety specialist. Welcome Jess! Let's get started.
Bill A Pelham, New York: Should you ever give your credit card number online, i.e. to purchase goods or services ?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: As long as the site is `SSL enabled' it's fine. Look for 'https' at the top, or padlock at the bottom of the screen. What this means is that your credit card number cannot be intercepted during transmission. However, your biggest danger is the reputability of the site, not the transmission process. We all heard of what happened with TJ Maxx, and that was not things that were bought online. Do a Google search to check the reputability of the online vendor if it's not a well-known store, such as Amazon. If it doesn't feel right, if the phone number isn't readily available, etc., then just like you would a regular store, walk away.
Wendy Bucci (Moderator): What is identity theft? How does it happen? And, how common of a crime is it?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: Identity theft is a crime in which someone obtains your personal data and uses it for their personal gain. There were 8 million known cases in 2006, and believe it or not, that number is DOWN by two million cases from previous years, so web chats like these seem to be working!
Believe it or not, the most common form of identity theft is NOT committed online. The most common form is finding a thrown-away credit card application and filling it out on behalf of the person and getting the card. The lesson to be learned here is to always shred unwanted mail, or go to optoutprescreen.com, a joint venture between all three major credit reporting companies.
Lisa Harrison (Moderator): How would a person know if they've been a victim of identity theft? And, what should they do if they suspect they've been victimized?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: Some warning signs: The most obvious, unexplainable charges on your credit card. This one is subtle: you continue to get credit card applications, but the rate is higher than normal. This may indicate someone is stomping your credit history to the ground.
If you suspect you've been victimized, call all your cards and request new ones. Also, send in a written letter to them, so it's on file. I'd also send in the same letter to the three credit reporting companies, Equifax, Trans-Union, and Experian.
Wendy Bucci (Moderator): Many of us have read that we should 'disable cookies' to be safe. Please excuse the ignorance, but what is a "cookie"? Should we disable them? And, should we be worried about them?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: A cookie is a small text file of information about you that a particular web site stores on your hard drive to retrieve at a later time. They are most commonly used to rotate banner ads on websites, so that they don't send you the same ad every time, but they're also used to store your website preferences, such as the way a page displays, or to keep you logged into a website so you don't have to every time.
I generally like them, for the most part they are to give you the best possible user experience on the web as possible. Your web experience will be extremely frustrating and almost unusable in this day and age without them, so don't be paranoid. Just like real cookies, enjoy them, but use them responsibly! Clear your Temporary Internet files monthly on your personal computers, and every time you are done on a public kiosk.
Wendy Bucci (Moderator): How can you tell if an email is a fake, or phishing email, sent to trick you into giving away personal information?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: This is an easy one - they all are. No reputable company will ever ask you to update your information in an email. If you really want to update your information, that's fine, just do it the old fashioned way. Go to the site, such as eBay, log in, and update your info from there. Just don't click on the link on the email. If you hover your mouse over the link without clicking on it, look down at the bottom of your screen and you'll find the REAL link that the email will take you to. You'll be surprised when it's a completely different site.
The mouse hovering trick is one of your best allies in preventing trickery. This is good for pop up windows that look like real Windows error messages.
Hover your mouse over the pop-up window. If the cursor changes to a hand, it's a web link and therefore a fake. If the cursor remains as an arrow, then the dialog box is a real Windows message!
Wendy Bucci (Moderator): Any suggestions for creating "good" passwords?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: I have a good trick for password management. The problem is that everything, including your ATM card requires a password nowadays. And they all have different criteria - some require six characters and a number, some require a capital letter and at least eight characters. They all usually have one thing in common, including your ATM - they'll let you try three passwords before locking you out of your account. I have three passwords that I use on regular rotation. One is your average garden-variety password. Another one is more complex, and then I have the weird one with a capital letter, and a number, and more characters. So now I only have to remember three passwords (which means I don't have to write them down anywhere) and one of them is always guaranteed to work before the system locks me out!
Wendy Bucci (Moderator): My kids IM all the time (AOL Instant Messager). How safe is this? Are there any precautions we should take to make this safer - for them and for our computer?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: First and foremost, the computer should be in a room where everyone can see it, and can see what's going on - not in a child's room behind a closed door. Talk to your child and set up ground rules for chatting. Take your kids through a great site - netsmartzkids.org, which teaches kids the importance of what NOT to say online. Also, firewall software such as the ZoneAlarm Security Suite allows you to configure a string of text that cannot be sent out to the Internet, such as your address.
Lisa Harrison (Moderator): What advice would you give a parent who is worried about what their child is doing online?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: Everyone needs to be involved - your kids, and your kid's friends parents, too! Trust me, they are just as concerned as you are. The number one issue I see is that if children aren't allowed to do something at your house, they will go over a friend's house to log on and do it there. By involving other parents, they know what to watch out for also.
Michelle Fontes: Is it o.k. to let your computer save your account numbers and passwords? Is there any danger in this?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: On a desktop computer, I think it's fine, provided you purge the numbers monthly (by deleting Temporary Internet Files). Also, be sure to have a professional wipe the drive and repartition it before giving the computer away or selling it!
Dave: Hi Jess, in an age when the government can review my phone records or my library book withdrawals, isn't any notion of privacy or security a bit naive?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: Privacy in this day and age has come down to your personal level of "comfortability" with who has what information. Be choosy about what you give freely. In this day and age, it's convenience vs. privacy. Your speedpass on the Expressway is great - but it also gives someone an exact date/time/location of where you were should that info need to be subpoenaed. Same with a Stop and Shop card. If a store checkout asks for my phone number, I choose not to give it to them. They are asking for the sake of marketing (where people are traveling to build new stores), but it's just not something I'm comfortable giving out because it can be tied directly to ME. I'll give out my zip code, but not my telephone number. There's no right or wrong, it's whatever you are comfortable with.
Philip Genereux (Providence): How often should passwords be changed and do you have any suggestions as far as character length?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: I don't like to change passwords any less than quarterly. Changing them is great - but changing them too often can lead to disastrous results. I see this a lot in the corporate environment. Too much security can lead to too little security - when passwords have to get changed too frequently, it's harder to remember, and usually ends up on a Post-It note taped to a monitor, which is terrible and completely defeats the purpose of having a password! I don't have suggestions as far as character length, as long as it's something you can remember. Many times the institution has their own length standards anyway!
Phil: Where would someone go to have a professional wipe the drive and repartition it? And what is repartition?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: A local computer repair shop can do it for you, or someplace like The Geek Squad at Best Buy. When you delete data from your computer, it's not really gone. The *pointer* to it is gone, so your Operating System doesn't know where to find it. But simple DOS-based programs can get all the data back. The only way it disappears is to have more data overwrite the actual sectors on the drive physically, or to repartition the drive, which overwrites all the sectors all at once.
Alan (Kingston): Any tips for Spyware protection?
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: Software is a must. If you have Cox Internet, their Security Suite (which is free) will protect you. Other software includes Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, and Webroot's Spysweeper. Be wary of some spyware software, which only adds MORE on instead of getting rid of it. A quick Google search on the software title will tell you it's reputability (if people have been burned, they will be complaining loudly on the Internet about it!). Finally, check all software titles before downloading them to make sure they aren't bundling any spyware in, and watch your trigger finger accidentally clicking on ad banners. Use the mouse-hover trick I mentioned earlier to make sure you differentiate an ad banner with a real error message.
Jess Stratton '99, Internet Specialist: Great questions everyone! Thanks for letting me be here to answer them, this was a lot of fun. If anyone has any more questions that they *didn't* get answered, you can find me at my computer learning center in downtown Westerly, RI, or online at www.solacelearning.com.
Thanks!
