McAfee 5 manual About Privacy and Security on the Web, Privacy on the Web, Who is snooping?

Internet Security and Privacy

About Privacy and Security on the Web

Before the advent of the Web, Internet security usually posed a problem only for system administrators trying to keep meddlesome hackers away from their systems. When the Web arrived, the popularity of the Internet skyrocketed.

Almost overnight, people began doing all sorts of potentially sensitive activities over the Internet, including: banking and stock transactions; sending personal data to Web sites; performing Web searches; and ordering books and clothes. While the Web is responsible for making the Internet more accessible, it also opens new possibilities for data theft, invasions of privacy, and fraud.

Why does Internet privacy matter to me?

Step back and consider the range of sensitive transactions we make every day. As an example, consider a simple ATM transaction. We assume that following conditions prevail whenever we use our ATM cards:

nPrivacy: Only you and the intended recipient can access the transaction information. The PIN you use to access your bank account provides a fairly high level of privacy—as long as you don’t share your PIN with others, and don’t leave your card lying around, your checking account balance is safe from prying eyes.

nIntegrity: Nothing can intervene and change the information during the transaction. When we take twenty dollars out of our checking account, we have a reasonable expectation that the ATM will not add an extra zero.

nTrust: You can trust that the recipient is who they claim to be; the recipient can trust that you are who you claim to be.

Organizations like banks and insurance companies are legally obliged to abide by federal statutes that govern the sanctity of your transaction information. The problem with Internet is that it has not yet evolved into well-established institutional mechanisms that guarantee the sanctity of your information.

Privacy on the Web

Who is snooping?

Hackers are a breed of human being that thrive on gaining illegal access to computers in order to access, steal, and sometimes corrupt data. Many hackers are quite benign—breaking into a secure system is a challenge and a thrill. But some computer hackers think that if they don’t care for someone or some organization, it is OK to break in to their computers and wreak havoc. Other hackers think that the online theft of money and resources is legitimate, as long as it goes to support more hacking.

Product Guide 101