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More Articles
Sept. 1998 - "Now is the Time"
Oct. 1998 - "What is the Internet?"
Nov. 1998 - "It's an Email World"
Jan. 1999 - "Little Help from a ..."
Jan. 1999 - "Is the Internet Safe?"
Mar. 1999 - "Desktop Clutter"
Apr. 1999 - "Searching the Net"
May 1999 - "What's in Domain Name?"
June 1999 - "Inernet Chaperones"
July 1999 - "Mind Your Online Manners"
Aug 1999 - " Chasing the Porsche"
Sept. 1999 - "Buying Hardware"
Oct. 1999 - "Buying Software" |
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(This article was originally published in The Tahoe Daily Tribune)
Without trying to be too cavalier or simplistic, yes, the internet
is safe. That being said, precautions are necessary.
First off, email is NOT safe. Never send sensitive information
(credit card, address, phone number, etc.) via email. Think of
email as being able to be read by hundreds of people; if you wouldn’t
say it outloud to almost anybody, don’t put it in email.
Most people want to know if it is safe to make purchases online.
That question is likewise, yes, with certain precautions.
Within a secure environment, experts agree that it is safer to
shop on the net than to hand your credit card to a clerk. Theft
from bank dumpsters, or during the use of your card in a supermarket
or boutique, remains a far easier proposition than hacking into
a server. A server is a computer that your computer talks to which
allows you to access the internet by guiding you to the internet
backbone.
The SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is software that is placed on the
server (and within your browser) that allows encryption. Encryption
means that each bit of information (like a number or single letter)
is sliced into pieces (16, 32, 64) and put into a random order.
Consider this: Most credit cards are 4 series of 4 numbers, 16
total. Each of the 16 numbers are sliced into 64 pieces (bits)
and thrown randomly in an electronic “hat,” so to speak.
The possible combinations are enormous. I have read that several
computers, working on nothing else but figuring the correct combination
of the above example, have been at if for over a year without
resolution.
Thieves are too busy thieving to spend that much time and effort
stealing your credit card information. A bank, something of that
magnitude, perhaps. It’s just too much work for my $3,000 credit
card balance, especially since it’s maxed out and he probably
couldn’t get a dinner out of it.
I have heard it explained like this: Billions of bits of information
fly through the phone lines every second. For a thief to reassemble
those 64 pieces of 16 numbers is next to impossible. It goes back
to ease at which a thief gets the necessary information to steal.
To be safe, there are certain qualifications. You must have a
Browser that will accept encryption, including Netscape 3.01 and
4, Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0, or a newer version of most common
browsers.
Most browsers are defaulted to notify you when you are entering
a secure page. You will know when you enter a Secure page because
the lock at the browser’s bottom lower left corner will close.
In Netscape, a blue line runs across the top of your screen as
well.
That indicates you are in a safe and secure page. Within this
situation, experts believe it is safe to give your credit card
information and safely make that purchase.
There are several places to research this information. Simply
go into your favorite search engine and type is SSL. You will
then know more about secure socket layers than you ever wanted
to know.
Comfortable that everything is secure, you may now go shopping
safely at your favorite online store. Be careful, though, because
it is real easy to spend money this way, and I guarantee the bill
will arrive through the safety of the post office..
Rick Langford is founder of Tahoe Mall, The Tahoe Net and Cache-World
Email
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