PUBLISHED BY Syngress Publishing, Inc. Copyright © 2002. ISBN:
1-931836-51-
5. (393 pages).
Protect Your Family on the Inteet!
Hack Proofing Your Identity is designed to answer these questions, and teach you the
methodology of how to find answers to questions this book will inevitably be unable to address. Unfortunately, it is impossible to anticipate all the possible ways in which someone might steal your identity given the current rapid evolution rate of new technology. Instead, we hope this book will teach you how to think about your personal information in a new way; how to recognize when you are unnecessarily putting yourself or your family at risk for identity theft, and how to recognize
opportunities to reduce that risk by making small changes in the way you manage your personal privacy, both online and offline.
This book includes more than just a bullet list of things you should do—it also provides explanations and shows you examples that illustrate the reasons why you should do them.
Chapter 1, What is Identity Theft?, starts us off with a definition of identity theft, what it is, how it happens, and shows how identity theft is more prevalent than you think.
Chapter 2, Protecting Your Hard Drive, guides us through the various steps of protecting our hard drives through the use of strong passwords, updated anti-virus software, and proper handling of temporary files.There’s a lot more hiding on your hard drive than you may be aware of, and identity thieves are everywhere and know what to look for.
Chapter 3, Keeping Your E-mail Private, shows us how e-mail opens up your computer
to the outside world. Discussions of viruses, malicious code, SPAM, and e-mail fraud are included, as well as tips for protecting your personal information and preventing any potential computer damaging security breaches.
Chapters 4 and 5, Self Defense on the Web and Connecting to the Inteet Safely, will
look at what a network is, how your network and the Inteet can be used in identity theft, and how to avoid common mistakes that make it easy for a thief to do his work. As you examine the risks of various types of network and Inteet connections, we will demonstrate a few surprisingly simple ways to access other computers. These demonstrations are intended only for educational purposes—to show you the kinds of information other computers on your network can see.
Chapter 6 takes on the sensitive topic of Are Your Kids Putting You At Risk? Unfortunately, children can be at risk on the Inteet if they are not properly educated about the dangers of sharing personal information (both their own and that of their parents). On the flipside, children could be breaking the law without even knowing it, depending on their interests or proficiency with computers, by downloading copyrighted material, accessing the Inteet with a connection provided by their parent’s employer, and so on. This chapter stresses the importance of proper education, and offers some suggestions for monitoring your child’s activities online.
Chapter 7 offers suggestions and possible answers to the question, What to Do If You Become A Victim? This chapter offers helpful tips on contacting law enforcement, filing reports, contacting credit bureaus, and rebuilding your finances after becoming a victim of identity theft.
Finally, Chapter 8, Configuring Your Browser and Firewall, offers some practical stepby-
step instructions for setting up your Inteet browser and personal firewalls to further protect your computer from intruders or identity thieves.
Unlike other books in the Syngress series, this book is not directed exclusively at a high-tech audience. We assume you have at least one computer in your home that’s connected to the Inteet, perhaps another one at work, and regularly use e-mail and surf the Web. If you are an IT professional, you may already know most of the technical information in this book; however, you might not have applied this knowledge
to the protection of your own private information.This book will help technical and non-technical people alike understand how to better protect private, personal information
and avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.
5. (393 pages).
Protect Your Family on the Inteet!
Hack Proofing Your Identity is designed to answer these questions, and teach you the
methodology of how to find answers to questions this book will inevitably be unable to address. Unfortunately, it is impossible to anticipate all the possible ways in which someone might steal your identity given the current rapid evolution rate of new technology. Instead, we hope this book will teach you how to think about your personal information in a new way; how to recognize when you are unnecessarily putting yourself or your family at risk for identity theft, and how to recognize
opportunities to reduce that risk by making small changes in the way you manage your personal privacy, both online and offline.
This book includes more than just a bullet list of things you should do—it also provides explanations and shows you examples that illustrate the reasons why you should do them.
Chapter 1, What is Identity Theft?, starts us off with a definition of identity theft, what it is, how it happens, and shows how identity theft is more prevalent than you think.
Chapter 2, Protecting Your Hard Drive, guides us through the various steps of protecting our hard drives through the use of strong passwords, updated anti-virus software, and proper handling of temporary files.There’s a lot more hiding on your hard drive than you may be aware of, and identity thieves are everywhere and know what to look for.
Chapter 3, Keeping Your E-mail Private, shows us how e-mail opens up your computer
to the outside world. Discussions of viruses, malicious code, SPAM, and e-mail fraud are included, as well as tips for protecting your personal information and preventing any potential computer damaging security breaches.
Chapters 4 and 5, Self Defense on the Web and Connecting to the Inteet Safely, will
look at what a network is, how your network and the Inteet can be used in identity theft, and how to avoid common mistakes that make it easy for a thief to do his work. As you examine the risks of various types of network and Inteet connections, we will demonstrate a few surprisingly simple ways to access other computers. These demonstrations are intended only for educational purposes—to show you the kinds of information other computers on your network can see.
Chapter 6 takes on the sensitive topic of Are Your Kids Putting You At Risk? Unfortunately, children can be at risk on the Inteet if they are not properly educated about the dangers of sharing personal information (both their own and that of their parents). On the flipside, children could be breaking the law without even knowing it, depending on their interests or proficiency with computers, by downloading copyrighted material, accessing the Inteet with a connection provided by their parent’s employer, and so on. This chapter stresses the importance of proper education, and offers some suggestions for monitoring your child’s activities online.
Chapter 7 offers suggestions and possible answers to the question, What to Do If You Become A Victim? This chapter offers helpful tips on contacting law enforcement, filing reports, contacting credit bureaus, and rebuilding your finances after becoming a victim of identity theft.
Finally, Chapter 8, Configuring Your Browser and Firewall, offers some practical stepby-
step instructions for setting up your Inteet browser and personal firewalls to further protect your computer from intruders or identity thieves.
Unlike other books in the Syngress series, this book is not directed exclusively at a high-tech audience. We assume you have at least one computer in your home that’s connected to the Inteet, perhaps another one at work, and regularly use e-mail and surf the Web. If you are an IT professional, you may already know most of the technical information in this book; however, you might not have applied this knowledge
to the protection of your own private information.This book will help technical and non-technical people alike understand how to better protect private, personal information
and avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.