Is the Internet as Bad as People Think?

Is The Internet As Bad As People Think?

The internet as we all know is probably the most useful resource known to man in this day of age. Not only is the internet easy to access its easy to use. Nearly everyone owns a computer and nearly all of which have access to the internet. But isn’t that a good thing? Millions of people having the ability to access and share all the information anybody could ever want.

The internet can be used for a number of things such as:

Research

Finding and or sharing information

Sending messages to friends or family

Chatting to people

Playing games and killing time

And much more

But can having this kind of power be a bad thing. I believe that in some cases it is and the internet can be highly dangerous if it is abused or used in the wrong hands. This is because the internet as much of a benefit it may be does have the potential to put other people at risk for anything from physical to psychological harm. People can use the internet to perform illegal activities such as:

Cyberstalking

ID theft

Fraud

White-collar fraud

Phishing

Spam

Pornography

Piracy

Creation of illegal objects or substances

Even though the internet leaves innocent people a potential victim for these crimes I think that having the internet and the advantages it brings is most certainly worth the risk. Some people may not agree as people can be robbed of their money or even killed with children as predominant targets. But what are these crimes and how can this affect me.

What is Cyberstalking?:

According to Wikipedia.com cyberstalking is the act of stalking someone via the means of electronic devices. This incudes online threatening and or harassing behaviour that an individual engages in repeatedly. This is in most cases potentially dangerous only if someone manages to get a hold of your email address otherwise this form of harassment isn’t really that much of a problem . If someone is harassing you in a chat room simply leave. I don’t believe this crime is a big problem amongst us today. Although some people may be left in uncomfortable situations and in a worried state of mind that this person may eventually catch up with you in the long run.

What is ID Theft?:

Identity theft according to Wikipedia.com is the deliberate assumption of another person's identity, usually to gain access to their finances or frame them for a crime. Less commonly, it is to enable illegal immigration, terrorism, espionage, or changing identity permanently. I consider this crime to be one of the worst that can happen to someone as a result of the internet because people don’t know that it is happening to them until its to late. Not only can it ruin peoples lives there is not much people can do that most people know of to prevent something like ID Theft from happening. But people most certainly have the ability to reduce their or eliminate their chances if they know how people obtain such information. Techniques that identity takers use are methods such as:

stealing mail or rummaging through rubbish

eavesdropping on public transactions to obtain personal data

stealing personal information in computer databases through the use of hacking

infiltration of organizations that store large amounts of personal information

impersonating a trusted organization in an electronic communication

Spam. Some, if not all spam requires you to respond to alleged contests, enter into "Good Deals", etc.

These methods can be very persuasive and lead you to believe that what they are doing is legitimate. So be sure to NEVER enter personal information into a computer and if this is done do not keep it available for any other person, the hard drive should also be later then be destroyed to prevent people from later retrieving the information.

www.identitytheftchief.com states that people should be extremely cautious about this matter as the website says that the chances of you having your personal identity stolen are about the same as having