How to Know if You Can Trust a Site With Your Personal Info

Yes, the web has provided us with the ultimate convenience in shopping, banking, and practically anything else you can think of. But when it comes to such personal data such as credit card information or your social security number, what sites can you really trust? With the increasing numbers of identity theft and fraud, scammers are having a field day with innocent consumers. It’s no surprise, since any criminal can start a free web page (URL: http://www.freeservers.com/Free-Web-Page.html ) and attempt to pass it off as secure and authentic to unknowing viewers. That’s why you should think twice before entering such precious info because the circumstances can be disastrous.

First, minimize security problems by sharing info on sites you know and trust, or ones that have been recommended by confident friends and family. You simply can’t tell by the looks of the website if it is reliable or trustworthy. Try to stick with well-known and reputable companies. Also be cautious of merchants who don’t list any other contact information. You can check outside agencies such as the Better Business Bureau to see what complaints the online merchant could have. After you think you have found a site that is trustworthy, find out if the web page is secured. When a web page is secured, it provides an encrypted transfer of info from your computer to the website, and the info cannot be read while it’s being sent. A secure site possesses an SSL certificate. Here’s how to tell if the page is secure.

Look for Https
Check out the URL or web page address, usually in the top of your web browser. Most addresses begin with “http” but secure connections display “https” instead. The “https” should not only be on pages where you enter your credit card info on shopping sites but also on pages where you type in usernames and passwords, such as your bank website or website where you go to check your email.

Examine the “Lock”
While on a secure page, your web browser should display an icon that looks like a padlock on the lower left or lower right corner, depending on your browser. Hover over it with your mouse or click it to verify the security information. Beware that some sites will try to trick you by simply replicating a padlock on the bottom of their webpage, making you think that what you are looking at is indeed your browser. Just remember to be familiar with your browser so you can spot fake locks.

Check the Properties
You can check if a page has an SSL certificate by going through your browser’s Properties menu. In the properties menu, select the Certificates option and see if an SSL certificate is present.

These are the main features to check to see whether a site is secured. For pages displaying a VeriSign SSL certificate symbol, use VeriSign’s “Verify Before you Buy Search Box” on their official website to make sure the seal is valid or if it’s being used with authorization. You simply copy and paste the site’s URL from your web browser and click “verify.” You can even download a “Verify Before You Buy” widget for your browser to make it even easier.

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Future Trends in Internet Security

Internet is one of tremendous achievement in the recent history since the computer age started. In the beginning, when the internet was structured the commercials were not allowed. But later internet became one of the backbones for industries, shopping, banking sector and for other commercials, which resulted in high business and at the same time paved way for cyber crimes. Though in earlier days the rates of cyber crimes were less, now the advancement in computer software technology has substantially increased the online crimes causing serious cyber security threats. Now internet network is one of the most importantly considered infrastructures for commercials globally, if this is not secured properly, not only ecommerce is at risk but also the life of humans can also be at stake. That means the future is at risk without security.

Drawbacks of Unsecure Internet
An Unsecure internet is like a human without dress. So if internet is not secured then any one can trespass to connect to your computer over internet and steal your information. So internet security has become a greater challenge for both personal and commercial use. If a computer connected to internet is not secured, then it is vulnerable to multiple attacks which include packet sniffing, phishing, TCP / IP hijacking & Spoofing, redirecting the router and other such kind of active attacks. So a proper and secure infrastructure can alone prevent such kind of active attacks.

How to secure the internet from Vulnerability?
By analysing the past and present trends in the internet security, the experts have come with a new scenario about the future of internet security. The scenario when overlooked would be simple to read but it’s difficult to implement, unless and until, we people (internet users) are aware about it. The future IT trend will give the solutions that provide additional layer of security to the computer and internet. The recent IT trend is focused mostly on the future security measures which may include

1.) Website Security – Secure Sockets Layer, Web Internet Protocol (IP) Security

2.) Web Application Security - Web penetration testing, Denial of Service attack, Web Server Firewall, Protection for programming languages used in websites e.g. java, html etc used for designing the website.

3.) Desktop Security – Internet security suite, Firewall, Antivirus, Anti Spyware, Anti – Malware, Adware protection, Vulnerability Analyzer, Security based PC Utilities, Anti Spam including PGP / Smime e-mail

4.) Infrastructure Development for Enterprises – Biometric Authentication, Smart cards, Access Control

5.) Implementation of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Model in Organisations

6.) Wi-fi or Wireless Security

Technically speaking, there are lot of confusions of what layer of security is required, or which kind of certificate is appropriate for PKI – Public key infrastructure, those suites globally and so on. Also the security measures that needs to be considered for extranets and intranets, which leads to a question of authentication level. So when a proper analysis is being made for security verticals including wire-less communications will provide a solution with key advantages. So for the base of website security the encryption and decryption level needs to be suggested by cryptographic experts. When it comes to computer security, it’s the effective desktop security solution that needs to prevent / protect an unauthorized access. This is because if the computer is vulnerable only there would be an unauthorized access, so if a comprehensive internet security suite is being installed in the computer, it works as a guard to the computer, prevent such vulnerable attacks and more over defending and shielding the computer from malicious attacks.

Though the government and internet councils has been trying to regulate the law of encrypted internet still it’s a very difficult task for them, due to lack of awareness. So once the awareness is being created, then we can assure that the future is secure. From present to future these changes will happen gradually from tiny to complex security. If any organisation wants to monopolize their security applications, then we are not getting the better security solution. The reason is more the competition is; better the product would be. So let’s welcome competition.

- Yuvaraj

Hermesmyth

Your Marketing Partner
http://www.hermesmyth.com

Enterprise Information Security and its Standards | ISO and CMM Cerfications | VPN and Enterprise Security Softwares

Enterprises today are experiencing a pressure to comply with information security and practice safety standards such as ISO (International Organization for Standardization) to reduce the potential liability in the event of serious security issues– let it be Physical Security or Online Internet Security. Also see Past, Present and Future of Internet Security. So inorder to maintain the information security in the organizational standards, the enterprises has to follow certain rules and regulations given by the International Organizational Standards to ensure that the information security requirements have compliance with statutory regulations of the Company.

Those include so many security measures that needs to the covered by the organization, which is given by leading security control sectors which establishes certain guidelines and general principles for initiating, implementing, maintaining, and improving information security management and the objective outlined which provide general guidance that is commonly accepted goals in an Enterprise’s information security management such as Enterprise Security policy which include information security; asset management; human resources security; physical and environmental security; communications and operations management; access control; information security incident management; compliance and much more.

When it comes to Technical / Online Internet Security, it should compliance with regulations and standards of the enterprise. In an Enterprise the systems are more vulnerable to number of threats to which some of the preventions tools and software needs to be implemented to protect intruders entering in your system. This kind of information security is achieved by implementing a suitable set of controls, which include policies, processes, procedures, organizational structures, software and hardware functions. Such kind technical security controls can be executed by the workstations, servers, enterprise security software tools, routers, switches, firewalls, and other systems that comprise our IT networks and the Internet that enable you to automate your security policies that grant you access and privileges of identification and authentication, logging and auditing to provide high level’s of security regulations and standards.

Also some of the security measures which you implement in transferring the information, Website Security using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), EV SSL, VPN’s (Virtual Private Network), Firewall, Anti-Virus and common sense of understanding the SPAM, Palm Security and other security tools will help your organization to grow into a SECURE successful Enterprise or Organization. Also visit http://www.ezencrypt.com/

Download your Linux based Comodo Trustix Enterprise Security Product for free at http://firewall.trustix.com/small/ and also learn more about Enterprise Level Internet Security at http://kriskarthik.blogspot.com/

Where must we consider Internet Security?

The practice of protecting, preventing the PC from hackers and preserving private information and resources on the world wide web is termed to be internet security, Web Security, Website Security or Control Internet Access. Not only this but also there are few steps which needs to done to protect our PC too!

To secure our private inforamtion and PC some of the following features needs to be fulfilled. These might be like the below.

Routers - improves the security of a home LAN

Firewalls - Filters some bad website / content that create defense in depth.

Viruses, worms and trojan horses - Hackers are people who are in some unreputable companies writing programs like viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. These programs are all unwanted softwares that would be developed in a way that it install automatically in our computer through deception.

Browser choice - The one which should be consider while surfing on internet is the browser. Hackers prime target for phishing is by these kinds of browsers. So a secure browser or a software that secures your browser needs to be installed.

And some of the others where security needs to be considered is like Spyware, adware etc.