Some Hidden Online Dangers (And Some Help In Avoiding Them)

There is no shortage of con-artists, scumbags, thieves and downright despicable characters on the internet. From viruses, to junk mail, to flat out identity theft, the risks are real and with each web page we visit we take a gamble of sorts. This isn’t to say that the majority of sites are anything other than legit, of course. But sometimes it’s not so easy to distinguish the good sites from the bad, and careless or uninformed action can affect your life for years to come.

If you are reading this, chances are you are fairly familiar with the way the web works, so this shouldn’t be very big news to you. Chances are you aren’t silly enough to send a blank check in return for some too-good-to-be-true deal promised in that pleasant sounding e-mail that just happened to show up in your inbox.

But there is a reason crime pays on the internet. Apart from the percentage that does send that check, ordinary people are scammed every day. It turns out that many of the criminals aren’t stupid either. They understand the way you surf and shop online because, moral conflicts aside, they think like you. Thus, they know some pretty clever ways to beat your own safe guards.

One of the most prominent ways they do this is by exploiting the same process that makes your mouth water at the sight of your favorite cola.

Familiar images can put a customer’s (or victim’s) mind at ease almost instantly. The scam known as Phishing plays off of this principle. In our minds there is a definite connection between appearance and emotion. Therefore, if the e-mail or site looks authentic, we are naturally less inclined to question its source. So the scammers set up a phony website utilizing stolen logos, etc. send out a message to their target, and wait for you to basically hand over your identity and finances.

This type of con is, thankfully, becoming more known to the public and is harder to perpetrate than it was before.

But all too often there is another way for the criminals to utilize the info given... this time to a legitimate site.

When you enter a secure portion of a website, often at the point you input your credit card information for a purchase, a small padlock icon frequently appears in front of the URL of the site. This should indicate that the site owner is using a secure server for this portion of the transaction or whatever it is you are doing and that your personal information is safe. Sadly this isn’t always the case, and it isn’t even usually deliberate.

People running a business are still only people. People make mistakes.

Unfortunately that mistake is sometimes forgetting to renew their licenses. As David Brandley, an expert on website verification and security put it, “You wouldn’t believe the amount of people whose certification has expired and they just don’t know it yet. They have no idea that they even have a problem.”

Another easy error on the part of an honest site builder is to neglect the “https” before the secure URL. Without that little piece of direction, the system, so to speak, doesn’t know that it is supposed to be working on a secure server. Extremely easy to miss, this boo-boo can open the door for criminals looking for your personal data. And once again, the secure appearance of the site is enough to stop you from questioning.

There are obviously ways to avoid these problems. Do your homework and make sure the site you think you are visiting really is the site you’re visiting. Also, a growing number of sites use a third party verification to make sure their site is secure. Look for the trust-seals they offer. They’ve done the homework for you. Trust-Guard for example requires that security issues, including ones like we’ve discussed, are dealt with before they will hand over their seal of approval.

As an afterthought, If you are the site owner trying to avoid these simple errors, that kind of service may be good for you as well. There’s an old joke that says “Business owners only work half-days (as in twelve hours.”)It’s difficult with all the hassle of operating your own business to double check everything, and mistakes do happen. Having a third person watch your back can ease some of the stress and minimize errors.

But wherever you surf, remember that knowledge really is power. The more you know, the safer you will be. Stay on the ball, and you should also stay in the clear.