Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Are You Offering Identity Thieves Your Personal Information?

Every year a list of the internet's biggest threats are released, and every year the list gets longer and more devastating. Spyware steals lists of sites that you have visited. Hackers steal your banking and personal information. Worms steal your usernames and passwords.

No one wants to become the victim of identity theft, but many feel helpless to protect themselves. Fortunately, McAfee's product line offers a variety of ways that you can protect yourself, your family, and your personal information.

If you don't have strong anti-virus protection like McAfee, you are leaving the door wide open and inviting hackers in.

Are you helping them in their theft?

What personal information is stored on your computer?

Your computer stores a plethora of personal information. In fact, with the right access, someone could build an extremely accurate profile of you and your family, with only your hard drive.

Banking Information

In the UK about 15 million people bank online. Fake emails, imposter websites, Trojan Horses, and Worms threaten your account information with each purchase and transaction that is completed online.

History of Sites Visited

Your computer keeps detailed records of the websites that you have visited. Spyware (discussed in detail below) can track this information and send it to a third party. The information is used by advertisers and market researchers, but it can also be used by those who want to spy on your activities.

Files

As computer software improves, it seems that we keep our entire lives on our computers. People use them to write personal journals, track work files, or store pictures, music, and home movies.

A thief gaining access to your personal files could use the information not only against you; they could use it to reach your family and friends as well. One growing and very frightening trend is for online predators to steal information about their targets to help build a false relationship. For example, predators can now steal information about a child and then use that information to build a fake friendship and lure them in.

The Spyware Threat

Spyware collects information about you and your online activities. It is a form of programming hidden in your computer, using up memory and resources, while sending your information to a third party.

Spyware can be used to steal passwords and personal data for the purpose of identity theft and other criminal activities. It can also be used to track your online surfing habits so that advertisers can better target you with their products.

Either way, spyware gathers information about you without your consent.

The Worm Threat

A computer worm is a program that will duplicate itself within one computer and then send its clones out through the network to infect other computer systems. Worms are used to steal pieces of information such as password and pin numbers.

One of the scariest things about worms is that they are able to work "behind the scenes", without the computer owners intervention or even awareness.

The History of the Worm

Worms were originally created to be useful pieces of programming. John F. Schoch and Jon A. Hupp created them in 1978 to help divide tasks better among processors. Essentially, the worm program was sent throughout the network to seek out processors that were not operating to their full potential. Upon isolating these processors, the worm would delegate tasks.

Since then, the worm concept has been recreated and innovated in order to spread throughout the internet and other networks. Worms steal bits of code, including passwords and private information, and send the information back to their creator.

Hackers in Your System

When a hacker enters your computer system, it is no different from a thief entering your home. The hacker is able to browse through your files, make changes to your documents, look at your internet history, and send emails. It is as though they are sitting at your desk using your computer.

Lock out hackers with a iron clad firewall system, such as that provided by McAfee Internet Security.

McAfee Internet Security Suite is a simple, innovative and powerful product that provides essential online protection. Here are just a few of the ways that McAfee Internet Security Suite helps you to lock out hackers:

• Antivirus with QuickScan's fast malware check
• Anti-spyware
• Anti-phishing
• Two-way firewall Two-way for increased protection!
• Anti-spam
• Web Security
• Identity Protection
• Parental Controls GREAT FEATURE!
• Data Backup
• Home Network Management

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