Introduction

Today’s world is much different than what it was forty years ago when the internet was just an idea on a person’s head. Today we use the internet for everything. Our homes, business and even our mobile communication devices are in some way or another connected to the internet. This opens the population to a new danger. A threat of anonymous criminals who with intent and a little skill can develop computer viruses, Trojans, skimmers, fishers, etc. that can disrupt your work, destroy your data and even steal your identity. Knowing what these threats are and how to prevent them will not guarantee your safety, but it can improve your chances of enjoying the conveniences of the Internet without becoming a victim.

The Internet

It has been more than forty years since Joseph Carl Robnettmm Licklider director of the Information Processing Techniques Office a division of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency first had the idea to interconnect computers so that more people would have access computer resources and information. In a time were computers used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars Licklider thought that if he created a network of computers the information and resource sharing would increase the people’s ability to solve complex problems. Straying from his defense systems development work which yielded in the first real-time defense computer system with the ability to respond to events as they occurred, Licklider embarked in a quest to build the first computer network over dedicated telephone lines. The idea was contrary to the time. The leaders in the industry IBM, Unisys and others focused on developing bigger and better supercomputers and considered Licklider’s idea a big waste of time. (Waldrop, 2008)

Today we know better, Licklider’s ambitious plan now called the Internet changed the way we communicate, share information and perform day to day tasks. The sharing of information between people, governments and business has become crucial to the world we live in. However do to the increase in electronic communications and the vast number of governments, business and people interconnected together, we are now more vulnerable than we have ever been. Crimes committed by individuals hundreds or even thousands of miles away have become common. The same convenience that we enjoy by having applications and resources readily available online creates a vast amount of potential victims for criminals to prey on.