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How To Stay Safe Online If You Use High-Speed Internet Access

If you listen to the news, you've probably heard about hackers and viruses. But unless your computer has been targeted by one, you may not know how they could affect you. If your computer is attacked by a hacker or virus, you could lose important personal information or software stored on your hard drive. You also could lose valuable time while you try to repair the damage. Without your knowledge, your computer could even be used to attack other computers, including those that protect our national security.

The best protection against hackers and viruses is your personal commitment to online safety. If you use a high-speed connection to access the Internet, you can take precautions to better protect your time, the information on your computer and the security of our nation's computer networks.

 

What is High Speed Internet Access?

Most Americans who use the Internet from home connect to it through a "dial-up connection" using a modem to call into a server over a regular telephone line. Many Internet Service Providers offer High Speed Internet Access - also known as broadband access - usually through a DSL connection (a digital subscriber line) or a cable modem.

High Speed Internet Access can cost more than a Dialup connection, but an increasing number of consumers choose it because:

  • it is faster than a dial-up connection, which reduces the time you spend waiting for web pages to load and lets your computer work faster.
  • it can connect your computer to the Internet with no dialing and no busy signals.
  • it lets you make and receive voice calls over your phone line while you're connected to the Internet. That's because DSL technology can handle data and voice on a single phone line at the same time and cable technology uses a separate wire from the telephone.
 

What are the risks?

Along with their benefits, high-speed Internet connections can be an inviting target for hackers and computer viruses. A hacker is a person who uses the Internet to access computers without permission. A virus is software that is planted in your computer to damage files and disrupt your system.

When you connect to the Internet, you are identified by an Internet Protocol (IP) address - a string of numbers that identifies your machine. If you use a dial-up connection, your IP address changes every time you log on. Some high-speed connection users' IP addresses may remain fixed, making it easier for a hacker to access their computers repeatedly.

One reason a hacker might want to access your computer is to steal the personal information stored on it. A hacker could use that information to commit identity theft. Hackers who discover your credit card numbers, Social Security number or bank account numbers may use the information to run up charges in your name. Or they may sell the information to other identity thieves.

Your DSL or cable modem stays connected to the Internet unless you turn off the computer or disconnect your Internet service. These "always on" connections can make a computer vulnerable to attack any time. Unless you take a few precautions, hackers can leave a virus or other software code on your computer that could be released later.

This technique has been behind distributed denial-of-service attacks. That's when hackers spread a virus that tells many individual computers to send messages simultaneously to the same server. The flood of messages can overload the system at, say, a bank, a government agency or another website. The systems then become swamped processing useless information or crash altogether.

 

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. For more advice on Internet safety, visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov.

This article on High Speed Internet Access is provided by the FTC.