This week we reminded once again of the fragility of online security. The news that hackers have accessed and published the passwords of 450,000 users of Yahoo comes after a month of fervent illegal activity that saw LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm - among others - targeted by pirates looking to steal and then distribute users' personal details.
It is hard not to get a little philosophical for a moment like this. After all, we live in a globalized world is defined by a paradoxical riddle; we are connected like never before thanks to the Internet, yet the global financial crisis creates an online community where fractured individuals are required to target other innocents. This is proven by the fact that online fraud has increased by about 10% since the global recession began in 09, with cybercrime at a cost of $ 388billion last year alone the global economy.
The ease with which hackers and fraudsters can access your data online has been facilitated by the emergence of public Wi-Fi hotspots. Sitting in a cozy cafe with a latte in one hand and eyes firmly on your laptop, it's easy to forget that there is a slightly more sinister side to go online in an unsecured environment. Public hotspots are notoriously easy for hackers to target, in part because they are wireless connections to off-site is not a problem and, secondly, because the very nature of public hotspots means that they are designed to be easily accessible to as many people as possible.
most users would not be aware if the encryption algorithm used to secure their connection to a Wi-Fi hotspot is one of the older algorithms easy to hack as oF or even if the wireless connection is encrypted at all. This is a VPN service can help as it works to hide your online business, no matter what the hotspot software uses encryption. Working as the equivalent of an invisibility cloak, all your navigation is made entirely anonymous. This means that when hackers attempt to pass through the weak Internet security gates of an access point, they will not be able to monitor your online movements and extract important personal information from your surfing.
2012 is presented as a pivotal year for online security and with the approaching Olympic Games this summer is set to be a bumper season for hackers and cybercriminals. Installing a VPN software on your computer will reduce the likelihood of their success against you.
Learn more about staying safe on Wi-Fi.
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