In the online world, a little protection and prevention can go a long way.In the online world, a little protection and prevention can go a long way.
Internet protection software may include anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall functions. Installing and maintaining such software can give you peace of mind that you are less likely to be affected by malicious attacks. (Some ISPs provide all or some of these functions as part of their standard connective functionality. Some operating systems, namely Mac OS 10.5+, incorporate some of this functionality.) Anti-virus and antispy software usually check all downloaded files (i.e., email attachments, browser downloads) looking for malicious code that could corrupt your computer or try to override functionality of existing software. Firewall software protects incoming and outgoing connectivity to the internet.
One way to protect yourself online, is to use hard-to-guess/crack passwords. As a start, having unique passwords for each different entity you deal with is suggested. Here is an article that discusses password security in more depth, including suggestions for creating good passwords. (Not using child’s or pet/horse name is a good start.) Some computer operating systems have a built-in "password" protection system. Alternatively, software like this may help protect your passwords.
Another protection method is to ensure that you log out of a web site after using it (rather than letting it time out). And to ensure that the next user to a common computer cannot utilize your password, closing the browser window and clearing the cache is helpful.
One thing I highly recommend if selling online, including eBay and/or using PayPal, is that the email address you use for primary communication is not the same as the contact email address on the web site, which is different than the email address used for eBay, which is different from the email address used by PayPal. Or in other words, a minimum of four different email addresses. Many internet services give you at least six different mailboxes/accounts, so this is one instance where more is better. You might also be able to use "free" email addresses (e.g., Yahoo, HotMail, Gmail), but some online venues (like eBay) will not accept free email addresses. Using a fifth email address to subscribe to all mailing lists and the sixth for purchase feedback/contact from online sites is an additional way of segregating email.
Some of these “extra” email addresses can be "aliases" or "forwards" where the email service forwards email addressed to one entity to a specified email address, but having them separated can eliminate a lot of hassles to easily and quickly identify "incorrect email address used" by scammers/con-artists trying to get your information through spoofing or phishing schemes. So if you receive a “PayPal” security alert on your “eBay” address, you immediately know there’s a problem.
How I selected additional email addresses to be used was to choose a noun and use variations (i.e., synonyms, different languages, etc.). So you might use words like “utensil,” “fork,” “knife,” “spoon,” “spork,” “ladle,” “spatula,” “tong,” “widget,” etc.; or maybe the character names from your favorite book/movie/show. Why so many variations? Because once an email address, other than your primary address, gets used for SPAM (unsolicited commercial/bulk email), spoofing, or phishing, you can change that one address. (You may want to keep the old one around for a week to a month while all transactions that utilized that address are completed.)
For setting up multiple email addresses/identities, check your email software's help section. Eudora uses "personalities." Outlook and Thunderbird use "accounts." Some webmail access, including Yahoo, have the ability to incorporate checking/sending email from ISPs so that you can check email at one location rather than having to access it multiple web pages or software applications. (And sometimes web mail can be downloaded to another program. Google’s mail, aka gmail, has this information to help set up access for non-web reading.) Summer 2009: Gmail surpasses AOL to be the #3 email provider of the entire web.
PayPal does allow for multiple email addresses to be associated with each account, with one primary address (where all the correspondence goes).
And regular backups will ensure that you're able to restore things promptly if your system is compromised.
Back up to Library
Return to the Model Horse Gallery Home Page
This page maintained by the Model Horse Gallery Curator ©1996-2020