Dangers of the Internet

Fraud and Theft
Online ordering has become extremely frequent in recent years, but the possibility of fraud has likewise increased. False stores fronts are occasionally created and consumers will unwittingly place credit card orders that will never be completed. In addition, orders placed to legitimate businesses can be as risky. There are computer programs available that can "sniff packets", enabling the user to capture information in transit, which may include exploitable information like a credit card number. Both of these situations are unlikely, however, if proper precautions are taken.

1. When making purchases from individuals in chat rooms, newsgroups, or other public forums, avoid ordering anything from a person using an anonymous e-mail account. Anonymous e-mail accounts include Hotmail, Yahoo!, etc.
2. Avoid making orders to addresses with a P.O. Box. These have a higher potential to be fraudulent.
3. Mail orders should always be done with a check or money order.
4. When ordering with a credit card, make certain the site is secure, i.e. it is using up-to-date encryption algorithms to protect the information sent.

Spam
With so many people using the Internet, it was only a matter of time before commercial businesses put their advertisements into it. Spam is a simple term used to describe the unsolicited advertisements sent through chat rooms, newsgroups, e-mail, and even in web pages as pop-up windows. Much of it can be simply ignored, but sometimes it can become pervasive, especially with e-mail spam.

Avoiding E-mail Spam
E-mail spam usually occurs when a person's e-mail is sent to a list of e-mail addresses which is then sold to various businesses. Often the only way to get rid of this problem is to avoid being a part of the list in the first place.

1. Don't list your e-mail on your web page. Either have it as a link or use a separate e-mail address. Myself, I use Yahoo! as my web page e-mail with another address for family, friends, and business.
2. When sending your e-mail to a service online, check to see if they have a "Privacy Policy". This usually states that all personal information will not be sold to other businesses for advertisement purposes.
3. Use a variant of your e-mail address when sending messages to public forums. List instructions on how to change it back with your message. For example: "bob@server.net" could be changed to "bob@my.server.fishing.net", with a note that says "remove 'my' and 'fishing' from my e-mail to reply". This eliminates the threat of automated e-mail searches while still allowing people to respond to you personally.

Avoiding Public Forum Spam
On public forums the spam can get so bad that the on-topic messages are lost in the flood. In this situation it is very difficult to remove the spam effectively, and for the most part a user will have to simply manually sift through the articles.

1. Use a "squelch", "mute", or "kill" feature to automatically filter a known spam address. These features will remove all future messages from that sender, but this might not help in the case of advertisements using false addresses.
2. Ask other users about their filters and see if they may have some advice.

Avoiding Web Page Spam
Finally, on web pages there is a small amount of spam. Spam on web pages usually appears as a banner advertisement or a pop-up window. In some cases this can become disruptive or even hazardous to the functioning of the browser as one pop-up window may spawn another and another. Sometimes the owner of the page is attempting to make some small profit on the side, or sometimes the web space is free provided that advertisements are placed on the pages. Other times, though, the entire page is designed as an advertisement. These pages are often the ones that create multiple pop-up windows. While banner ads are not very disruptive, the pop-up windows can become a problem. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid them.

1. When accessing pages found using a search engine, avoid pages designed as "search engine bait".
2. If the page has too many advertisements, turn off Java and Java scripts. This option can usually be found in the advanced options section. Pop-up windows use Java to activate, and they are blocked when Java is not available.

Desensitization
This is less of a danger and more of just an effect of the Internet. As people see more and more on the Internet about more and more things, they start to look upon everything as equal. Value systems can easily become altered as there are so many different perspectives on life described throughout the Web. Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on the person. Those with strong value systems may not be affected at all, while those who are uncertain my have a life-changing experience. Depending on where you look, many aspects of humanity are idolized or criticized for their benefits and detriments to society. Sex, violence, love, hate, and many more touchy subjects are openly discussed at varying degrees. Writers bring facts, myths, and even outright lies into the discussions, leaving a reader confused as to what is true and what is not. It is this flood of conflicting ideas that often results in the desensitization of Internet users.

Obsession

Anything new and exciting will invariably become an obsession for many people. With the constantly changing atmosphere of the Web, this is one of the most addicting activities available today. People end up spending hours upon hours in front of the computer daily, sometimes foregoing sleep, personal hygiene, and even food to spend more time on the Internet. The desire to find out more, to read and see more and more can become a driving obsession. This has become more common recently as access has gotten faster and computers have gotten cheaper. Be aware of how much time you spend on the computer. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. Spending all of your spare time on the computer will eventually cause problems, even if they cannot be seen now.

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