INTERNET DANGER

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The internet is a great place to communicate with people. The internet has enabled us to stay in contact with millions of people all over the world. There is no need for people to be solely dependent on the old means of communication like the postal service. However, with all the good the interent has to offer, there is a darkside to it. The internet can be very dangerous if not used in a wise manner. Spam crowds e-mail accounts by the trillions everyday. Viruses threaten to destroy computers everyday. On top of that, the internet is home to fruads and petafilers waiting to prey on people who do not use common knowledge when using the internet. Spam is the junk e-mails that people receive everyday. I compare them to the junk mail that we receive in the postal mail everyday. The different is instead of sending pizza coupons and sweepstakes, many people receive many random articles ranging from win and trip to such and such place to porn advertisments. Many people overlook it but it can be a hassle and in some cases dangerous. Some of those spam if you choose to clikc on them contain viruses that can be very harmful to your computer. Many people receive these e-mails by the bulk on a daily basis, in some cases in the hundreds. There is nothing you can really do about it, just that you as a computer user must be very careful in what e-mails you open up. If you have small children using the internet, talk to them about these spam e-mails and give them instructions on how to deal with them.Viruses are the most common way computers become ruined. Viruses come in many shapes and forms. Many people get viruses from downloading from the internet. Sometimes you can have a virus in your computer for weeks and sometimes months without you knowing. Some viruses eat at your computer in a matter of seconds. Unlike spam, viruses can be very costly. If you get a virus, it can take weeks sometimes to fix your computer. Plus the cost to fix computers with viruses can be very costly. To avoid viruses, try not to download anything from an unsercure website. Also be careful of the websites you visit. When pop-off come on your screen, click out as soon as possible.Social networks like Myspace and Facebook have become popular among hogh school and college students. Many people use these networks however to get in contact with minors in order to take advantage of them. They pose as teenage to college aged kids and fool these kids into thinking that they are talking to one of their peers. This has been becoming a problem for the past couple of years. Many organizations have been going down on these petafilers but still many children put themselves at risk by staying in contact with these types of people. One way to reduce this for children who are below a certain age group to not post their pictures on these websites. That way these sickos don't have a reason to attack these children. Also, parents need to keep an eye on who their chldren talk to online. If you are not sure of who you are talking to, avoid contact by all means.