I would appreciate notification of where it was used, and if possible, a copy of ezine or newsletter that it was used in. Please send notification mailto:webmaster@online-wealth.com

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For quite a few months now, I've been - well, not inundated but - receiving a number of emails urging me to take advantage of interactive facilities such as LiveHelper, HumanClick and like.

At first glance, such a tool should be very useful, thinks I...and I mention this to Sherry, musing about whether people visiting our websites would feel same way. Sherry, after much prodding, tears her eyes away from her monitor and replies, "Well, dear, I'm really not all that sure..." and slips back into her near-catatonic state as she concentrates on next batch of emails pouring in.

"Well, y'know, when you go inna store, y'know, you expect some-one to talk to you, right...sort of like to help, y'know?" I stopped, momentarily nonplussed, for I suddenly realized *that* doesn't happen anymore in stores anyway, as Sherry's almost-glazed eyes swept over me like a laser beam and then back to monitor.

Recovering quickly, I says, "OK, lookit, ferget about stores - they're dinosaurs anyway, only they don't know it yet - but, onna web people want *interaction*, they *want* to be told what and how to buy, right? Riiiight? At least, that's what *we're* told, right, in all those ezines, OK!" I look at Sherry fiercely, willing her to unglue her eyes from screen.

Her face suffused, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed turned her radar on me, fixed my position finally and gritted through her teeth, "Why don't you find out, dear? Why don't you just ASK THEM?" As she finished and calmed down, she smiled sweetly at me now, and repeated, "Run a survey or poll, on our main site, then you *might* have some idea!"

Brilliant, I thought. Organize a poll to find out what our visitors really think about those tools before we go to trouble of trying them out! Hey, maybe such a poll would even tell us whether there is any acceptance of concept, out there anyway?

"Fantastic, yer a genius", I shouted as Sherry went back to her screen and I set about designing suitable survey questions and form. A day or so later, it was all done, with poll sitting on three of our domains. The questions I was putting to all visitors were essentially:

In my case, while an unwanted party gained my account details, no transactions were made. The bank's fraud department were understandably hesitant in releasing details of compromise, but they were very quick in taking action. At this point in time I'm not even sure that offending party was an online merchant, freelance hacker or traditional retailer.

The media in general have fed netizen community paranoia levels regarding online transactions. Yes, credit card numbers are stolen and yes, there are victims who suffer financial loss. But submitting your credit card details online is no different to handing your card to a shop assistant that you don't know or a waiter you have never met before. There is very little stopping merchants we carry out transactions with on a face to face basis from gathering detailed lists of account numbers to be sold off on black market.

The media have also fed xenophobic cold war attitudes of years gone by by focusing on certain countries. Credit card number hackers are "Russian", true. They are also American, Australian and English. Every country in world has a community of identity theives, scammers and spammers.

If you own a credit card and don't carry out online transactions, it doesn't mean you are safe. We need to remember that most of world's information systems are now connected somehow to Internet. All your vital details are now available online; regardless of whether or not you are a Internet user. It's all down to usernames, passwords and IP addresses. If you have ever collected a welfare payment, taken out an insurance policy or registered a vehicle - congratulations! You are now part of World Wide Web, like it or not. You can now emerge from your identity fortress as resistance is futile. That's reality of our modern lives.

So, now after having blown away your misconceptions of your privacy, and your false security of being safe from identity theft, let's deal with reality!

Identity theft and credit card fraud is on increase, such is nature of an online world. How do we as netizens and webmasters protect ourselves and our clients as best as possible? It boils down to a number of simple guidelines.

Passwords - Know that little window that pops up and politely asks you if you want your computer to remember certain user names and passwords? Don't tick it! Most passwords are stored in a special file on a Windows 95/98/ME system and every half baked pimply would-be hacker knows what it is. If you are not using a firewall, it is pretty easy for these people to snatch your password file and then crack it at their leisure using freely available programs.

Password length can also add as extra protection. Those extra few numbers and letters make all difference. Read article:

Safety in numbers and letters http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/safetyinnumbers.htm

Web masters, if you are keeping user information on your web server, ensure it is stored in proper directory with proper permissions. Better still, wherever possible, store minimum client information on your server. Even better, ensure that all sensitive details that your visitors may submit occur over an SSL connect. A web server is equivalent of a 7/11 store - open all hours for valid and non-valid customers. There is NO 100% guaranteed safe system

Firewalls - A personal firewall is now a necessity, not a luxury. The script kiddie problem is increasing. A script kiddie is someone who fancies themselves as a hacker and utilises freely available programs to compromise your system via Internet. Script Kiddies have caused major problems over recent years and have been known to post up credit card numbers for all to see. Why? Bragging rights, a great deal of time. There are over 60 000 points of entry on your PC. You can read more about issue and gain an overview of personal firewalls by reading articles:

Script Kiddies - Vermin of Internet http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/scriptkiddies.htm

Script Kiddies - An advice to parents http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/scriptkiddies2.htm

Script Kiddies 3 - Grill a Kiddie http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/kiddies3.htm

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Who are you? - Before you click submit button for that ezine that you really gotta have; how much information are you having to give away? A name and email address should be all that's needed in most cases. Even if you aren't having to submit credit card numbers, you are still giving away information that enables people to build profiles on you which then make it easier for identity theft to occur. It's amazing how much information you can access just knowing somebody's date of birth. If a service provider is asking you for more than your name and email address; I strongly advise checking them out before submitting.