Identity Theft

What's in a password? A lot, actually. Your bank account, its safety and security, for example.

Way too many users still haven't answered the call by security experts to implement more robust passwords. A U.S. security firm compiled a list of passwords that are the easiest to hack. Yes, all passwords are "hackable" sooner or later, given enough skills and effort on the hacker's part, but typing simply '123456' takes the cake.

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Spyware has become a popular word in computing. Anyone who accesses the web can get infected. And therein is the rub. What most users consider an unwanted invasion of their privacy, many of those who disseminate it say that spyware helps them taylor their business to users' experience.

Times, they are a'changing. Originally, spyware developers have made this type of software to track your browsing and computer habits. And there's a side effect: more often than not, spyware becomes a doorway to viruses.

Which brings us back to medical terminology.

Now what?

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It's so easy to pay for stuff you buy online, using online services such as PayPal, isn't it? And it's so easy, too, to get paid for whatever one can get paid using online services such as PayPal, isn't it?

And it's dangerous, too.

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Who has time to go to the bank anymore? Well, a lot of people but more and more Canadians are doing their banking online and increasingly via their mobile devices.

Of course, where there's technology, there are scam artists ready to steal your personal information and run off with all your hard-earned cash and identity. Not all of them are blatant scams like the classic below, taken from my spam folder:

What's the world coming to? Is nothing sacred any longer?

Seems we're quickly coming close to information technology's Sodom and Gomorrah. Unbelievable as it sounds, Symantec's servers, yes, those servers that host Norton Utilities and other such wonderful security tools, have been hacked. The application to suffer the most, sundry media reports say, was the pcAnywhere. Symantec describes its newest version (12.5) as "the world's leading remote access software solution. It lets you manage computers efficiently, resolve helpdesk issues quickly, and connect to remote devices simply and securely. New features of this remote desktop software include smart card authentication and native whiteboard support, while continuing to enable remote users to find, connect to, and control the hosts they need."

Fine and dandy, as it were, except: what happens to those who access it on Symantec's servers? And is it safe to use now that it's been hacked into?

Internet bidding sites have been spreading like forest mushrooms after a warm rain in late May recently. E-Bay has almost become an afterthought.

It all began when people decided, for example, that to sell a car as a trade-in when buying a spanking new vehicle is shortsighted. The dealer offers you a price. That price will, in the best of cases, cut into the new car's price but, eventually, you'll find out that car dealers aren't in the business for your beautiful (insert colour here) eyes.

This realization (and not only about cars) has led to all kinds of lists and sites that let you sell your older product (or buy one) for prices considerably more to your liking. You're not supporting a dealer's overhead, after all (this brings us back to cars, but only because they're such an easy example).

But the lengths some of the bidding sites go to these days must raise an eyebrow or two.

Thinking of buying a new house because the old one is too small for you? Thinking of selling your old house because it's too big for you? Thinking of entering the fabulous world of real estate?

The real estate world is filled with curiously-sounding words, such as "party of the first part," whatever THAT is supposed to mean, with one proviso: it usually DOES mean something you'll have to pay for even if it's not mentioned in the original offer sheet.

The real estate world is also filled with professionals who really mean it when they say they're in it to help you.

Unfortunately, there are some people who say the same thing but mean something completely different: they're in it to help themselves and the consumer be damned.

Here's a primer.

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We read stories of outrageous thefts from time to time. Used to be we were shocked to hear somebody stole, say, a Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre in Paris. Morons, we used to say, they won't be able to sell the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece to anyone anywhere without being caught.

Rank amateurs, when compared to modern-day thieves. These people do not need to wear gloves so as not to leave fingerprints, and dark mackintoshes so as not to be seen during the night. They don't have to leave their homes to do their dirty deeds.

They're called hackers, and people who tried to steal the Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre wouldn't have a chance, compared to them.

No matter what you do on your computer - buy and sell things, keep in touch with family and friends, play games, or keep up on the latest news and events - you could be exposing your personal information to fraudsters, which can result in identity theft and financial loss.

How does it happen?

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Watch out, says a message that just landed in your e-mail inbox, there's this new outrageously funny video available, here's the link get it, it's perfect, you'll be rolling on the floor laughing, have a look.

The message has come from someone whose name you know, it may even be a family member. So, you trust it and click on the link. You'll land on a page that looks just like your typical YouTube (or Facebook, or any other social media network) page. But wait, first, you have to install an Adobe Flush plug-in. Without it, you're toast, you can't view the video.

If you DO try to download the plug-in, you will be toast within seconds.

Meanwhile, the villain who wrote Koobface is laughing his head off somewhere out there.

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People working in retail fear most cashier jobs will disappear once the so-called "wave-and-pay" technology takes over. No need to fear right now. For now, it's the automated checkouts that should scare them. The "wave-and-pay" applications are still too scary to most customers. They are afraid its developers still haven't rid it of serious security breaches.

British newspaper Daily Telegraph's Digital Media Editor Emma Barnett says that, for example, the loudly trumpeted Google's Wallet application has been a flop, so far, and she cites research figures to prove her point.

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