The only sure way to shop safe on the InternetWritten by William Milham
After all my years as an Internet Professional, I can't begin to count number of phone calls and emails I've gotten regarding safe shopping on Internet. When you really think about it, there's about same amount of risk shopping in a regular walk-in store (remember those?) as there is shopping on Internet. Actually, there's less risk on Internet. If you're robbed in a regular store, you're life could be in danger. If you pay attention to what you're buying on Internet and what type of site you're on, worst that will happen is occasional impulse buy.Of course, if you're really concerned about your credit information: Your best defense when it comes to keeping your credit card information safe on Internet is not to use your credit card on Internet. However, shopping on Internet - on secure sites - is perfectly safe and a great way to shop (Granted, "great" part is only my opinion, but ease of point and click shopping beats great googly-moogly out of a crowded mall....). When you shop on Internet, remember, your common sense is your best weapon. If a site looks a little goofy in security department & your gut tells you not to enter in your personal information... DON'T! You can pretty much always trust established businesses such as amazon.com, macys.com, and like, to have secure servers for credit card and check transactions. If you're unsure about site, you can see if they're secure or not by looking for little "secure" icon in your browser. When on a secure page in Internet Explorer, there will be a little padlock icon on lower right-hand corner of browser window. Netscape has a similar icon. Secure pages also have "https://www.domainnamehere.com/secure.htm" distinction in their address as opposed to a non-secure site, which would read "http://www.domainnamehere.com".
| | Who's Watching You? Protecting Your Privacy On The InternetWritten by William Milham
It might be surprising to learn, but more often than not, someone is watching what you're doing on-line. I'm not talking about your kids (or parents) looking over your shoulder as you surf; I'm talking about good old Corporate America. Not only are you being "tracked" on Web, you're also giving out personal information, probably without even knowing it. Do you really want anyone to know where you're going on-line & what types of websites you frequent? Are you real big on giving companies you've never heard of your name, address, e-mail and a boatload of other information? I didn't think so. Here's what you do about it: There are two parts to this topic. 1. Keeping yourself from being tracked on Internet, and 2. Keeping your computer from giving out information when you don't want it to. Part One On Internet, companies use little files called cookies (stored in "Temporary Internet Files" folder) to track your web activity. They also have access to your "History" folder, which keeps a log of all sites you've visited. To keep yourself anonymous on web you should regularly clean "History" and "Temporary Internet Files" folders. To delete files from your "History" folder, you will need to do following: Open your web browser (this only works with MSIE 4+). On top toolbar, select "history" icon. A screen should appear on left hand side of browser. Once inside that screen, you can delete any items you find. That's it. Now, step two... To delete files/cookies from your "Temporary Internet Files" folder, you will need to do following: Open "Windows Explorer". On left hand side of screen, select c:/ then "Windows", then (in windows folder) find "Temporary Internet Files". Double-click "Temporary Internet Files" folder to open it in right-hand side of screen. Once folder opens, you can go ahead and delete what you find there except for a file called "index.dat" (you need that one. everything else is garbage). But only files in "Temporary Internet Files" folder. DO NOT Delete any other files or folders. You may seriously harm your computer. Done? Good. Your Internet trail is gone.
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