Responding to Internet Hackers

Internet hackers strike inadequately protected computers. Even having a firewall may not be enough. These unwelcome trespassers break into computers with the intent to disrupt, steal information, cause damage, and profit from these activities. Data mining should be illegal everywhere. Those who leave unwanted advertising in the form of pop-ups and pop-unders aren’t much better.

A growing Internet security industry has resulted from the need to keep computers free of external junk. Hacking gets more prevalent and vicious with each passing day. Perhaps it’s happened to someone you know. Well, it’s happened to me. When my computer was invaded by a multinational ISP – on I don’t use and never will use – I was horrified. Then my e-mail account was hijacked. After getting the feelings of anger and vulnerability under control, I filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, and contacted my Congressman to see what could legally be done to stop the offenders.

The long and short of it is – not much. In this case, the best offense is a strong defense. Download a strong firewall, along with effective ad ware and spy ware deterrents. Report all spam, and never ever respond to it. That only encourages the spammers to send more. After all, if it wasn’t profitable, they wouldn’t send it.

Since I write a lot of articles, I’ve found that using a service to distribute them seems to protect against excessive e-mail abuse. While I do receive some spam, it isn’t much – perhaps eight or ten messages a day. Some writers I know receive thousands of unwanted messages daily.

I can’t say that being hijacked was a good experience, but it did teach me a valuable lesson about securing my computer. I’m now much more aware of what can and will happen if I don’t take the appropriate steps to block it.