Issues of using the web

I believe that the greatest risk associated with computer use today is the issue of security. It is almost impossible to be sure of who may have access to your information, and your personal files. This may very well lead to identity theft, which is a fast growing concern of the internet. Less violating, but still invasive, is the problem of computer viruses, which may harm your computer if contracted. These possibilities are very hard to detect, and even harder to correct or reverse.

The lesser of the two evils would be the possibility of a computer virus. A computer virus is defined as a malicious software program designed to change the way a computer operates. While, there are security measures you can take to prevent this from happening, they cannot always save your PC. Coming into a virus, is actually very simple; opening an email, searching a link, downloading from a website, all of these put your computer at risk and most of them are daily occurrences. Here in lies the problem, you can never be certain. Viruses can erase files from your computer, slow your computer down so that you may not be able to use it efficiently and can be used for outside access to your personal information. The latter, is a risk all in itself; computer theft.

Computer theft is the most dangerous issue of computer use. Computer theft is a way in which someone else uses your identity, typically to purchase goods or services. The most common way for someone to do this is by sending out emails that appear to be legitimate and sometimes urgent so that you are more inclined to open it. You are asked to verify your social security number or other personal information, and you are made to believe that it is for important use, this is an easy way to be fooled. There are hardly any ways of protecting yourself from identity theft as caused by phishing, which makes the threat very real for most. More recently though, there have been national, or local (whichever may be effected by a certain phishing attempt) alerts made informing the public of phishing attempts that may circulate. These alerts will tell you what WebPages may be a threat, or they may tell you not to open an email with a certain headline that is being used to obtain personal information. Paying serious attention to these alerts is necessary for protecting yourself from this serious danger. And in general examining your computer use closely and analyzing suspicious situations is the starting point of avoiding both identity theft and computer viruses. The users who create the means to threaten you in these ways are very sneaky, and very intelligent in avoiding being detected, this makes it vital that you be aware of the potential risks you take when using your computer.