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Computer Identity TheftI don't want to make you overly paranoid about computer identity theft, but if you come across a careful and persistent attacker, your entire financial details may be at risk. That is a pretty strong statement. But unfortunately, it is true. Why? There are several ways in which a determined theif could approach this. Firstly, there are such things as 'keystroke loggers'. They come in the form of either a small device added to your pc or laptop or a program loaded on. A keystroke logger records every page you load and look at and literally every key that you hit. This means that if you are a regular user of internet banking or shop using a credit card, they will get everything. The logger programme then stores the information until it is downloaded or sends it back to the person who placed it by email. Naturally, you will type in your login details, passwords, card numbers, CVV numbers and possibly more. In short, the entire keys to your finances could be placed into someone elses hands. On a personal level, this would be computer identity theft on a grand scale. It may take some time for them to really get all your password details as some programs ask you to only input selected digits rather than a whole password. Either way, given time and determination, they can strip your finances bare. Such an assault takes time and ideally, access to the computer that you use. This, of course, narrows down any list of potential suspects since they really need to have had your machine in their hands. To read about online risks, please visit:
online identity theft
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