I hear that question all too often from home users and the answer is pretty simple. They want any information that is stored on your computer.

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime today and it's not just happening through hacking over the internet. Think about your mailbox at home, or the garbage you throw out to your curb every week. Theft of your mail is illegal, but the garbage you throw out is public property once it hits the curb.

After reading the section on viruses, you should have a pretty good idea on how quickly a hacker can access your computer. But what happens now? You have to think about what you do on your computer at this point.

Do you do online banking?

Any hacker would love to get their hands on your card number and password for your internet banking account. It's easy if they can get a keylogger onto your computer. One login and they have access to your bank accounts, credit card numbers, any loans you have and all the personal information they could possibly need. The next time you log into your bank over the internet, take a good look at the information you have at your fingertips and would you really want someone to see it.

I'm sure you've heard on the news about people having their bank account emptied, losing large sums of money because it was wired to an overseas account. If someone were to grab $1000.00 from your bank account, chances are you'll notice right away, but do you realize how often small sums of money are removed every month? How many people actually read their bank statements? If you do, how often would you look at $5.00 and think it's a banking fee? Maybe it isn't.

While $5.00 a month isn't a lot of money, if a hacker has access to 1000 bank accounts and is removing
$5.00 a month from all of them, he/she could live pretty well. This happens quite frequently actually. It's not just bank accounts, it happens with credit cards as well. Sometimes the bank will catch it, sometimes not but generally the bank would have to see the recurrence of the withdrawal every month.

What does it really take to get a credit card in your name???

Not much when you really think about it. Name, address, phone number. How often do you get credit card applications in the mail, a guaranteed credit card for a set credit limit??? And how often do you disregard them and throw them out? How do these credit companies get your information to send you an application in the first place??? Even if you have bad credit, you (or someone impersonating you) can get a credit card if you are pushy about it.

Some people have a lot of nerve when it comes to theft and it never ceases to amaze me. I hear of companies having laptops stolen by a complete stranger that walks in off the street. Employees see the thief but nobody asks him/her what they are doing. If people have the nerve to steal a laptop in that way, what else are they willing to do? Where do you fit in with safety and security? Does the thief want the laptop? Probably not, it's really not worth a lot. The chances are better that they want the information it contains. Other companies suffer from the late night snatch and grab where someone breaks in, grabs whatever computers they can can get in a short period of time and leave. Usually these computers are running and cease to function when they are ripped out but the hard drive will survive. The information contained within can be more valuable that the hardware itself.

So who has information on me and how do I know it's safe and secure?

Simple answer, chances are you don't know. Any Canadian company or person that holds personal information on another has an obligation to keep that information safe at all cost. If you haven't heard of, or don't understand the current laws on the protection of personal information, please read the following government websites.

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.
http://www.oipc.ab.ca/pipa/
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/legislation/02_06_01_01_e.asp

So who else has personal information on you and where do they get it?

When I moved into my new apartment, I did the usual and ordered a phone from Telus. They spelled my last name wrong, and within 2 weeks I started getting junk mail in that wrong name. Every other company had my name correct and nobody outside the utility companies had my new address yet. After all, I just moved. Hmmm, I called Telus and questioned it but they swear my personal information was secure. The new phone book wasn't due out for another 6 months so how did all these companies get my information so fast? And who else now has my personal information? Why wasn't I given the choice to have safe and secure information? Just a few more things to think about...

Thank you.
Management - Internetempowered.com
When it comes to Internet Safety - knowledge really is power.

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