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Special thanks to attorney Jerry D. Rhoades, Jr., Jayne A. Hitchcock of WHOA, the Patrons of #callahans, and the women of HerDomain for their assistance with this FAQ. 1. What do I have to protect myself against on the Internet? Many crimes that are committed in the real world also occur on the Net. These include fraud and embezzlement, harassment, "stealing" an identity, or stalking. A lot of information is available about you on the Net, and an enterprising criminal can find out a lot about you and use this information to his/her disadvantage. A criminal could use basic information about you (discovered on the Net), and then engage in "social engineering"--contacting your friends, co-workers, relatives, etc.--to learn even more. 2. How can I protect myself on the Net? Be VERY careful to whom you give personal information and where you post information. Use a "nonsense" password that has no relation to you as a person; use a combination of numbers, symbols, and letters and make sure it is at least 6 characters long. Change your password frequently and NEVER give it out. Try not to keep it written down. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts. If you are a woman, you may want to avoid usernames that are obviously female anytime you are on the Net, depending on the net.community you are participating in. (Your first initial and last name combine to make a good, easy to remember, and gender-neutral user name.) This includes e-mail, IRC channels or chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc. Learn what kind of anti-abuse procedures are in place in the community. IRC channels usually have two or more "ops" (operators) around, who have the power and authority to ban abusive users from the channel. If there is no op on a channel, contact the IRCops of your IRC server; these names are given when you first sign onto the server. Visit http://www.irchelp.org to learn more. Check web sites that provide information about people (like Four 11, WhoWhere, etc.) to see what information is available about you. Ask that any entries about you be deleted or edit them to give only a P.O. Box as an address and a phone number that isn't answered (maybe the line that gives the time and weather in town). You may want to visit one of the meta search engines (Dogpile, Fast Search, etc.) and search for your name as well. Don't give out credit card numbers in a non-secure environment. If you're making a purchase through a web site, read the company's security policy before you buy. A secure web page will usually have a URL that begins "https" (instead of "http"), and most browers will alert you to the fact that you are going to a secured (or unsecured) page. No reputable merchant will ask you for your mother's maiden name and Social Security Number "to verify that you're the card holder." If you are asked for this information on the Net, it may be part of a scam by a thief who is looking for gullible victims willing to hand over their wallets, credit histories, and reputations. 3. What can I do if I am being harassed or stalked on the Net? You should report the incident to the system administrator (aka "sysadmin") of both your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the ISP of the stalker or harasser. Be aware that sometimes stalkers/harassers try to conceal their tracks by forging (aka "spoofing") their e-mail headers. If you receive abusive e-mail, you might want to visit SpamCop. This free (with voluntary subscription) service will analyze your unwanted e-mail to determine its point of origin, and can generate a report that will be e-mailed to the appropriate sysadmin. You can also visit CyberSnitch to report Internet abuse and have a report sent to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Check with your own ISP to learn about their abuse policy; this is usually outlined in the customer service agreement. Generally complaints of abuse are sent to the postmaster or the abuse department, and the addresses will be something like "postmaster@yourisp.com" or "abuse@yourisp.com." Many ISPs use both addresses. Go to your ISP's web site for more detailed, official information. Be sure to forward a complete copy of the mail, including the headers, to the sysadmin. Most sysadmins will not hesitate to cancel the account of anyone using their ISP to send abusive mail, and will cooperate with other sysadmins to prevent future occurences. If your sysadmin does not take your complaint seriously, that may be a good reason to change ISPs. For legal questions about cyberstalking, visit http://cyber.findlaw.com/criminal/cyberstalk.html, a collection of articles on the subject. U.S. laws on cyberstalking vary from state to state, but if you have been threatened in e-mail, you may wish to ask an attorney about the Federal statute 18 U.S.C. 875(c). Under that statute, "transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of a communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another," is a federal felony, carrying a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. 4. Is "cyber-stalking" dangerous? In and of itself, no. But it is easy to underestimate the threat that a person known only through the Net can pose. It is rare, but "cyber-stalking" can enter the "real world" and then it poses a threat. Cyber-stalking can in some cases take place without your knowledge, and you may not know you have been stalked until the stalker enters the "real world." That's why it's important to know what information is available about you. 5. Should I be paranoid whenever I log onto the Internet? Not necessarily, but you should be as careful as you would be when visiting a strange city. Your best defense is learning what can be done to you, and what you can do to prevent it. 6. How do I protect my kids? There's a lot of "nanny" software out there, but shop carefully before you buy. Some child-safe filters don't allow for customization, which annoys those parents who think that they (not the software company) should decide what their children should see or not see. Some filters are rather clumsy in blocking sites. The Society of Friends (Quakers) web site has been blocked by at least one nanny program. A section of NASA's web site discussing the Mars exploration program can be blocked if the filter detects the letters "s ex" (apparently the space doesn't matter to the filter). Some parents prefer to use tracking software that keeps a record of every site the child visits. Some parents forbid their children to use the Internet without direct parental supervision. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to protecting your children, on the Internet or in real life. Take into account your child's age, character, and your own family's standards of acceptable behavior when planning your defence. Other Useful Links Information about unwanted
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