We surf the internet for a variety of reasons, from using social media, buying and selling goods, to sending information. When we give out private data to businesses and other internet users, we trust them to use that information for legitimate purposes. This isn't always the case though and financial and personal data can be used for harmful reasons like hacking, stalking and identity fraud. Identity fraud is when personal details that have been accessed or stolen are used to commit fraudulent acts posing as someone else with stolen identity Most common solution to this is : Private browsing or Anonymous Browsing on Internet Before we talk about this, let us talk about what happens when you normally browse the Internet
Many Ways
Websites Track you
Whenever you
visit a web site, your web browser may reveal your location via your device's IP
address. It can also provide your search and browsing history etc. which may be
used by third parties, liked advertisers or criminals as cyber crime are getting increasing day by day . This way websites track
you. Tracking is generally used by advertising networks to build up detailed
profiles for pinpoint ad-targeting even tracking down users for special purpose
such as effecting their political choices. Recall the data tracking reported in
US elections, Brazil elections and many more. The type of information available
through your web usage patterns, which websites generally use for tracking you,
are :
(a) IP Address
IP address is
a unique address of your device when you connect to the Internet. It's likely
that your computer shares your IP address with the other networked devices in
your house or office. From your IP address, a website can determine your rough
geographical location.
(b) Cookies and Tracking Scripts
Cookies are
small pieces of information websites can store in your browser. They have
plenty of legitimate uses – for example, when you sign into your online-banking
website, a cookie remembers your login information. When you Cookies are small
text files change a setting on a website, a cookie stores that setting so on
your computer storing it can persist across page loads and sessions e.g., you
change small piece of information the zoom percentage of your webpage, then
this setting will related to your online habits. reflect on all opened web pages
- because this was stored in a cookie. Cookies can also identify you and track
your browsing activity across a website.
Cookies can be :
(i) First party cookies. These are the cookies that store
your own login id, passwords, auto fill information etc. for some websites that
you frequently visit.
(ii) Third party cookies. These are the cookies that websites
store to know about your search history and web browsing history so as to place
advertisements as per your interests. Third party cookies may result in many
unwanted advertisements on your web pages.
(c) HTTP Referrer
When you
click a link, your browser loads the web page linked to it and tells the
website where you came from. For example, if you clicked a link to an outside
website on a web page, if you click at the link shown then the linked website
will get opened and internally information about you such as your IP
address,location, your web browser, machine type etc. will also be provided to
the linked website – the HTTP referrer.
(d) Super Cookies
Super cookies
are also cookies but these are persistent cookies, i.e., they come back even
after you delete them. Super cookies (like evercookie) store cookie data in
multiple places – for example, in Flash cookies, Silverlight storage, your
browsing history, and HTML5 local storage etc. When a website notices that
you've deleted part of the super cookie, the information is repopulated from
the other location. For example, you might clear your browser cookies and not
your Flash cookies, so the website will copy the value of the Flash cookie to
your browser cookies.
(e) User Agent
Your browser
also sends a user agent every time you connect to a website. This tells
websites your browser and operating system, providing another piece of data
that can be stored and used to target ads. All the above things leak your
identity information to websites and it may be used against you. Solution to
this is Private browsing and Anonymous browsing. let us learn what is this type
of browsing
Private Browsing and Anonymous Browsing
Ø
Anonymous browsers allow users to view websites without
revealing any personal information like their IP address. An anonymous browser
lets users access websites anonymously. It can be used as a tool for
governments, journalists and everyday security-conscious surfers. There is
another type of browsing - Private browsing.
Ø Private Browsing There are other ways to use the Internet without revealing your search history and sharing your data:
Incognito browsing opens up a version of the browser
that will not track your activity. It's
particularly useful if you're entering sensitive data like bank details into
the browser, as it can minimise the risk of your information being saved to
that computer. It can also be used for purposes like to look at surprise gifts
for the family without leaving clues, searching for hotel rooms for your
vacation, filling examination forms etc. But this information is still visible
to your school, university or organization. You may also use private browsers
and search engines like Duck Duckgo.
Proxy works by acting as a middleman between
your computer and the website you want to access. Now the tracking website will
get the IP address and information that belongs to the proxy site, so you are
effectively getting the same content from another source without it getting to
know your browsing details.
Virtual Private Network or a VPN is a method used toadd
security and privacy to private and private browsing networks, like WiFi
hotspots and the Internet. VPNs are most often used by corporations to protect
A type of browsing wherein browser opens in incognito sensitive data. Virtual
Private Networks (VPN) were mode and does not store originally meant for
business employees working cookies about your online offsite to gain access to
shared drives or networks. activity, is called Private Nowadays, you can set up
a VPN at home to protect Browsing yourself from hackers trying to access your
sensitive information.
Practices to ensure confidentiality of
information
Computers,
networking, internet – these all are inevitable; you cannot avoid these as
these ar modern age tools. But you surely can follow certain practices to
safeguard your data and ensure its confidentiality.
Best pratices
used to ensure confidentiality are as follows:
1. Use
firewall wherever possible
Your system must be secured such that only
authentic users can cannot to it. Firewall is one very good solution for this.
Firewall is a program that monitors all communications and traps all illicit
packets. Most operating systems now come with a firewall preinstalled. However,
some , such as the windows firewall, only block suspect incoming
communications, leaving completely open access to the internet from your
machine.
Thus,
it is recommended that you install a firewall that can monitor both incoming and
outgoing communication and traps the illicit ones.
2. Control
browser settings to block tracking
You
already know that websites can track your surfing on their site by IP address
and related system information, including system names and internet addresses
that often uniquely identify your computer. Search engines generally record
your queries together with your computer identification, building up a profile
of your interests over time.
To
minimize these threats, you can turn your default browser settings to exclude
cookies especially third party cookies, since they can be used to build up
detailed profiles of your surfing patterns over time.
3. Browse
privately wherever possible
To
avoid the tacking by websites, you should try to browse internet privately wherever
possible. this way websites would not be able to store cookies on your
computer, which give information about search pattern and surf history.
4. Be
careful while posting on internet
You
should know that psting is public. When you post anything to a public internet
such as social netwoking sites like instragram or facebook etc., newspaper,
mailing list, or chat room, you generally give up the rights to the connect and
any expectation of privacy or confidentiality. In most countries, anything you
post to a public space can be saved, archived, duplicated, distributed and
published, even after years later, by anyone in the same way as a photograph
taken in a public space like a cuty park.
So
ensure that you never post crucial information like your personal details like
address, mobile phone number, bank details, credit card details etc. on public
internet sites.
5. Ensure
safe sutes while entering crucial information
Sometimes,
you have a need to provide your crucial information such as your personal
details or bank details etc. for example, you might be applying online to
register for an entrance exam through a legitimate site that asks for your
personal details. In such case, ensure these things:
v
Type
the URL of the website in the address bar of the browser on your own. Do not click on a link that takes to
this website; or do not cut /copy the link of this website and paste it. TYPE
THE URL ON YOUR OWN in the address bar if the web browser.
v
Ensure
that the address contains HTTP nad a pad lock sign. When this website gets loaded,
before you start typing any information, ensure that the website address. A
safe site`s URL start https:// and not with http://. Also, it shows a closed
pad lock.
6. Carefully
handle emails
While
opening an email, make sue that you know the sender. Even if open the email
message by accident, make sure not to open attachment in an email from
unrecognized source. Emails containing sensitive information should be deleted
securely.
Also,
your emails might contains a link to legitimate looking websites; never click
on any link inside an email to open it. The link might look legit biut it may
take you to a fraudent site. Even if you need to visit the linked website, type
the URL of the website on your own in the address bar of a web browser but never
open any link inside an email.
7. Do
not give sensitive information on wireless nteworks
Sometimes,
you get access to some wireless connections such as Wi-Fi connections available
on Airports or Railway stations. While using such Wi-Fi connections, make sure
not to open any sensitive information on a website. The reason for this is that
most free wireless networks are not encrypted and hence information on it can
be tapped and used for fraudulent purposes.
8. Avoid
using public computers
Always
try not to use the public computer especially if have to deal with your crucial
data. But if you need to work on a public computer, then make sure these
things:
a)
Browse
privately, first of all
b)
Don`t
save your login information
c)
Never
save passwords while working on a public computer.
d)
Avoid
entering sensitive information onto a public computer.
e)
Don`t
leave the computer unattended with sensitive information on the screen.
f)
Disable
the feature that stores passwords.
g)
Properly
log out before you leave the computer.
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