People take risks online with their identity that they’d never dream of taking in the real world.

When you hand your credit card to the waiter at an unfamiliar bistro, there’s a possibility he’ll copy the number and go on a spree with your card.

It’s not likely, though — too many chances for him to get caught!

• Click here to visit FOXNews.com’s Cybersecurity Center.

• Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com’s Identity Theft Center.

Most of us, therefore, don’t worry too much about letting a card out of our sight for a short time.

But when you give your credit-card number or any sort of personal information to a Web site, you’re taking a much more serious chance on identity theft.

Here are a dozen tips, in no particular order, to help keep your identity and personal information safe.

Finally, check out the links below to three apps that can help ensure that John Smith doesn’t become the property of John Q. Public.

1. Clam Up. If a site requires registration, fill in only the required fields. Look closely for at any checkboxes relating to sharing your information — depending on how they’re worded, you’ll need to check or uncheck the box to deny sharing permission.

2. Lie. If the registration isn’t part of an important ongoing business relationship, consider filling the required fields with, shall we say, truth-challenged data. Or get ready-made registration information from http://www.bugmenot.com/.

3. Look for the Lock. The lock symbol in your browser’s Status Bar and “https” in the Address Bar show that you’ve got a secure connection. Look for it any time you’re about to engage in a financial transaction. The lock isn’t a guarantee of security, but its absence is a guarantee of NO security. (Story continues)

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Your Online Security Authority  
Bill Wardell

No task is more important for any newspaper than to impart the news convincingly to the people and their government that a war is lost or futile or wrong.. The failure of America’s major newspapers in 2005 and 2006 to disclose the U.S.’s defeat in Iraq has been as disastrous as the earlier failure to challenge the government on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

As for Saddam Hussein–some whiners complain he didn’t get a fair trial. What do they think these trials are for, for heaven’s sake? Here’s what I wrote when he was captured back in December 2003:

“All the U.S. wants is for the former Iraqi president to be hauled into some kangaroo court and, after a brisk procedure in which Saddam will not doubt be denied opportunities to interrogate old pals from happier days like Donald Rumsfeld, be dropped through a trap door with a rope tied around his neck, maybe with an Iraqi, or at least a son of the Prophet pulling the lever.”

Just one more reason why you need read nothing but CounterPunch.

Sixty-nine countries still retain the death penalty. The most recent to abandon it was the Philippines, in 2006. Mexico and Liberia in 2005. Greece and Turkey (along with Bhutan, Samoa and Senegal in 2004). There is some small progress in human affairs.

That said, let’s scroll quickly through the calendar, as it unfolded in a few of my bulletins on this site.

 

January 18

Three very senior leftists pass on. Sanora Babb died on December 31, aged 98. Harry Magdoff died on New Years Day, at 92. Frank Wilkinson died a day later, at 91.

My line has always been that to get really old it pays to have been a Commie or at least a fellow traveler. In younger years they tended to walk a lot, selling the party paper. They talked a lot and above all, they never stopped thinking. The quickest way to kill someone is to send them off to quasi-solitary, torn from their comfortable nest and thrown into a nursing home or into managed care, where people talk about them at the tops of their voices, referring to them in the third person. You can see them dying before your eyes, their brains turned to mush. It takes about a year to kill them off, unless a “surprise birthday party” wipes them out even earlier. See the rest of 2006 Highlights!

OSA Editorial Comments:

What a great article please go and read more of the Year in Review 2006: It makes you wonder where time goes, and quickly a year goes by. See the rest of the Highlights!

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell

A recent wave of web worms appearing on social networking websites represent a new generation of more sophisticated computer worms.

Early forms of the computer threats classified as “worms” were intended more for causing havoc or were designed for proof-of-concept purposes to determine if vulnerabilities could be exploited.

Recently, however, new worms have been discovered on social networking sites such as MySpace, which are designed to steal data. Read more.

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell

In addition, the company recently purchased a selection of storage media comprising of 100 hard-disk drives and 50 memory cards and proceeded to process a sample batch to test what data was still retrievable from them. The results were worrying as documents such as CVs and accounting spreadsheets (including names and mobile numbers) were easily accessible.

Perhaps even more worrying was the fact that many previous owners had not deleted temporary Internet files. This means that any new, unscrupulous owner could access personal financial details, such as credit card numbers and could then go on to order goods from Internet pages by simply changing the delivery address. Many of the sampled selection also contained pornographic matter.

It seems that very few people are aware that simply pressing the delete button does not necessarily mean that the data is destroyed and irretrievable. This research comes as a timely reminder to both consumers and businesses that data should be destroyed properly and not simply deleted or formatted, as this is not sufficient to completely erase stored data. Read more.

OSA Editorial Comments:

What a tragedy that we have to destroy everything we own now days. Your ID and your online personal information should be your #1 priority in online security, you cannot allow anyone access to any information that could lead to the theft or your identity!

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell

Piecemeal Security Piecemeal security is the tendency to look at small pieces of a system or network in isolation from the system as a whole. Since computer networks are extremely complex, it is of little importance to examine the individual aspects of the system. Piecemeal security often results when several departments are responsible for different aspects of security. If these departments do not work closely together, each can set policies without regard for how those policies affect security as a whole. This can create vulnerabilities at the borders. Read more.

Your Online Security Authority
Bill Wardell