Sukosaki

You know what I mean right?  The most recent attack that almost killed Twitter and sent it’s 45 million users running for answers.  The internet is so much fun, or it can be, but let’s not forget all about the crap that comes along with it.  There are plenty of ways to protect yourself from bad internet related things, but do you know what can really happen? 

What exactly happened in that attack?

Well it is known as a denial-of-service attack where tons of requests are sent to a website ultimately shutting it down for sometimes hours at a crack.  According to the NYTimes.com website:

“Rather, he said, at about 10:30 a.m. E.S.T., millions of people worldwide received spam e-mail messages containing links to Twitter and other sites. When recipients clicked on the links, those sites were overwhelmed with requests to access their servers. “It’s a vast increase in traffic that creates the denial of service,” he said.”

Even though Twitter had a handle on the situation, they were still trying to get things back to 100% normal a day or two later.

There have also been recent cases of fraud involving Facebook.  The way this one works is quite simple and can catch even the web savvy if they aren’t paying attention.  A fraudster will hack into a Facebook account and start updating friends by stating they are in some sort of trouble (jail, medical bills,etc) in hopes that other family members or friends will pony up the bills.  You laugh now, but it happens and there was a couple in Wisconsin that fell for it to the tune of $19,000.  Bet they wished they never had the internet now!

You have no doubt been a victim of a website that actually downloads a virus right to your computer.  Right!  Most people joke about adult sites that bog down your CPU, but what most don’t realize is that some children websites do the same.  You see, children don’t care what the “pop-ups” say, they just want to play games, etc.  So when something gets in there way “Hey download this thing now and get blah, blah, blah.” the next thing you know is you cannot login to your account and your daughters knocked up (sorry, had to throw that in there).

Don’t forget identity theft.  You know that one website you found where you can get that set of brake pads for 75% off?  Remember, it was like 3 in the morning and you were determined to save money on that project no matter what, so you turned to the power of the web.  Well, you think the brake pads are coming, but in the meantime, some crook is running around the web with all of your information (credit card included) buying up all the extenz he can get his hands on.

You won’t even know it until it’s too late, but isn’t that just part of being connected to the internet?  No, it doesn’t have to be that way at all.  Do your homework and even when those prices seem to good to be true, stick to website that have authority.

Let’s not for SPAM.  Everyone loves SPAM, but not the kind the ends up in your inbox every week.  There is still money in the SPAM business even after all of these years.  “Get your pills online, today”, “Make your lover scream in bed”, “Get a better mortgage rate” and the list goes on.  There are still people that click those links and sign up for bogus products and services.  All those clicks and signups are making someone money and usually taking a bit from you in the process.  I work with people that talk about FREE LAPTOPS and other things of that nature and I just sit back and laugh.  If you weren’t “connected” you wouldn’t be wasting so much time with these types of things.

Let’s not forget about the SPAM you get from sites like Craigslist, LivePerson, etc.  These spammers will usually reply to an ad you have posted in hopes that you will email them back with your real email address.  Thus, they are now able to collect and sell that email address to the highest bidder (trust me, they are out there).  Craigslist is a valuable classified site, but now that you cannot get an ad on the site without a weeks worth of SPAM to follow, I don’t see much value in it at all.

Playing MMORPG’s can be a fun way to let off some steam, unless of course you are being bothered by gold spammers and power levelers the entire time.  This is just another avenue that fraudsters have found a way to make a fun thing, not so fun after all.  What?  You aren’t bothered by that on the games?  Well, then I am sure that internet bullies are what bothers you.  The next time your son or daughter talk about being bullied online, take them seriously, it’s happening all the time.

All of these are great reasons why you are way better off online, when you are not connected to the internet.  Have a good day!