Safe Computing Online

One time, I watched a young lady goofing around on the Internet at the end of a class. She was visiting a Rob Zombie-related website and had already entered her name and address, and when it asked her to enter her Social Security number to verify her age, she dutifully did.

This is dumb, people.

Do not give out your Social Security number willy-nilly. The only time you'll be legitimately asked for it is when you're applying for credit, opening a bank account, or doing anything tax-related. The rest of the time, if someone asks for your Social Security number, tell them to take a hike.

Why? Because it is the one thing people need to know to apply for credit. Say I'm a bad guy who would rather steal for a living than work. I could go rob banks or hold up jewelry stores, but there's that potential inconvenience of prison, getting shot, or exploding dye packs. Instead, I set up a website that attracts young and trusting visitors. With very legitimate-sounding reasons, I ask my young and trusting visitors for their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers. Being young and trusting, they give them.

I now have all I need to apply for store credit cards, bank credit cards, car loans, gas cards, bank accounts, and just about any other type of credit you can think of. Maybe I need to make a fake ID with your name on it to use them all, maybe not.

I go to Kay Jewelers and open a charge account-in your name-to buy a $1,200 diamond ring. I pawn the ring for $700 and pocket the cash, and a month later, you get the bill. You'll also be getting one from Victoria's Secret, Sears, and Texaco. By the time you've figured it out, I've stopped using your name and have moved on to someone else. Your credit is ruined, I'm afraid, and you'll have the devil's own time making it all right.

So, do not give out personal information over the Internet, not unless you're dang sure who is asking and that the request is legitimate. If you have any doubts, call the company or government agency who is asking. (People do still do business over the phone, you know.) Don't give out your Social Security number, your checking account number, or, most importantly from my point of view, your parents' checking account number.

What about shopping online? If it's a big and well-know retailer, Amazon for instance, yeah, it's as safe as it's going to get. If the site isn't well-known, you want to make sure it is a secure site. Three ways to tell. One, the site will (somewhere) tell you whether or not it's secure and your data will be encrypted when you send it. While there's no perfect encryption, it's a heck of a lot harder to swipe your credit card number when it's encrypted than when it's not. Also, look at the web address. A secure site will have an address that begins "https://" rather than just "http://" (That "s" is the important part.) Finally, look at the menu bar at the bottom of the page. A secure site will have a little pad- lock icon down there. An insecure site won't.