Long gone are days that we could feel secure and know for certain that we had privacy. With digital age upon us we can no longer be so sure that our privacy is secure. Recently Google has admitted their organisation holds user data indefinitely. This causes concerns as now we know Google has information on us that we do not want anyone to know about.

We can simply blame this all on big corporate companies; they seem to be a very good escape goat however, this is not case; your privacy is totally up to you. Certificates ensure that all data that is transferred between you and internet is secure and encrypted. Recently in New Zealand there was a short certificate outage on a banks website. During this outage only one out of 300 users took this security warning seriously.

This is a rather large concern, as many users on internet have same belief that their data is safe and secure. By end of 2005 it is estimated identity fraud will cause up to 5 trillion dollars world wide. We, users of internet must keep ourselves safe, secure and pay attention to those security warnings. I have compiled some good tools and tricks that will help keep you much more anonymous and secure.

1) Get rid of internet explorer: First and foremost Microsoft Internet Explorer is highest risk to your internet experience. Not only is most popular internet browser, but is also most popular for attacks from Viruses and Spyware. Internet explorer is also too integrated with windows operating system. Have you ever wondered how a dialler or online casino got onto your desktop?

I personally recommend Opera; they have a nice clean browser. The usability is easy and best of all, it uses tabbed browsing.

2) Protect your Connection. Make sure you have an active firewall operating; Firewalls stop intruders from entering your connection and causing havoc. Hackers can easily gain access to an unprotected network and steal private information.

With release of SP2 for Windows XP, Microsoft have incorporated a free personal Firewall. If you have broadband your router should have an inbuilt Firewall, and make sure this is enabled, Zonealarm also offer a free Firewall. You must always do what you can to protect yourself.

3) Don’t share those files: One of most common security flaws besides running Windows XP, is having File sharing enabled. To disable File Sharing please do following:

I recall my excitement, thinking what a wonderful world it will be, knowing that these brave crusaders were blazing a trail before me, their radical new views and opinions becoming a reality. And at that young age, I recognized I would be first generation to reap benefits of their efforts. I felt blessed to be born in such a historic time.

Wow, was I wrong.

Often I ask myself, where have all flower children gone? Where are young men and women who fought for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness? Where are people who burned flags, bras and draft cards; who marched on college campuses and on Washington DC so their voices could be heard? I find it hard to believe thoughts and values they fought so valiantly for have disappeared and are only a fond memory of a golden age gone by.

Over past few months, this point has become painfully obvious. As I work with clients and talk with friends I hear sound of hopelessness in their voices. They watch as gas and food prices soar. They gaze in disbelief as senseless violence escalates. They stand by helplessly as their jobs are moved overseas and their personal freedoms are taken away one-by-one. In end, they are left feeling impotent because they are unable to control path their lives are taking and feel powerless to change it.

It’s interesting, because on an individual basis, all we want is to be happy, healthy and live our lives in integrity. We want to know that we will have a job to go to on Monday. We want to be able to feed our children, breath air around us, drink water and step outside our homes. Instead we have become increasingly alienated by harsh reality of our world, a reality which creates conflicts between how things are and how we would like them to be. Thus we end up feeling dissatisfied and give up all hope of a better, simpler life.

Hopelessness is a hard emotion to experience; one we have embraced at some point in our lives. It seems to happen just before we hit rock bottom, when we can’t see light at end of tunnel or when life seems futile and we just want to give up. It is a natural part of human condition.