Lately, I have read several articles and heard a presentation about keeping the information on your computer safe from internet thieves. We know them as hackers, phishers, pharmers, and whatever other name the media calls them. One thing is clear from recent publications. The thieves are getting smarter and using more sophisticated methods to steal private information.

For example, Business Week, April 17, 2006, reported that the thieves recently sent thousands of emails telling people that a lawsuit had been filed against them. They used legal references that made the emails seem authentic. The emails advised the readers to open the attachment to learn about the details of the lawsuit against them. The attachment contained a computer worm called Bagle that harvested all of the readers email addresses. The thieves used the addresses they stole to send out more bogus emails that the recipients thought were coming from people they knew.

I personally was the victim of an attempted phishing scam that apparently was used on thousands of other people. I received an email purportedly from Citibank that asked me to confirm my personal information in order to protect my account. Fortunately, I called Citibank, and their representatives told me that they would never use an email to ask for personal information. I have no idea how many other people were the victims of this scam.

Never underestimate the internet thieves. They create software to steal data, and they embed code into articles and links that we will open and give them access to personal information. They have software that records our keystrokes so that they can find our names and passwords. They have taken their craft to a higher level, and they are now breaking into the computer systems of banks and credit unions.

They are also pooling their resources and forming hacker think tanks. There is a black market book called Hackers Handbook and a $20 kit called WebAttacker that tries to defeat firewalls and record keystrokes. Business Week estimates that internet fraud losses in 2005 were $1.5 billion.