Final Exam Part Two

1a. There are numerous ways your ID can be stolen. A list of eight most common ways are listed on wikepedia.com at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft#Techniques_for_obtaining_information Two common techniques for obtaining personal information are: Eavesdropping on public transactions to obtain personal data (shoulder surfing) Stealing personal information in computer databases [Trojan horses, hacking]

1b. Ways you can help prevent identity theft are listed on privacyrights.org. A list of 43 specifics ways are listed at http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17-it.htm. Three excellent examples are: When creating passwords and PINs (personal identification numbers), do not use the last four digits of your Social Security number, mother's maiden name, your birthdate, middle name, pet's name, consecutive numbers or anything else that could easily be discovered by thieves. It's It's best to create passwords that combine letters and numbers. Here's a tip to create a password that is strong and easy to remember. Think of a favorite line of poetry, like Mary had a little lamb. Use the first or last letters to create a password. Use numbers to make it stronger. For example, MHALL, or better yet MHA2L!. The longer the string, the harder it is to crack. Install a firewall on your home computer to prevent hackers from obtaining personal identifying and financial data from your hard drive. This is especially important if you connect to the Internet by DSL or cable modem. Never respond to "phishing" email messages. These appear to be from your bank, eBay, or PayPal. They instruct you to visit their web site, which looks just like the real thing. There, you are told to confirm your account information, provide your SSN, date of birth and other personal information. Legitimate financial companies never email their customers with such requests. These messages are the work of fraudsters attempting to obtain personal information in order to commit identity theft.

2. Examples of input devices can be found on wekipedia.com at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input_device#Pointing_devices. Two great examples are the touch screen and the graphics tablet. A touch screen is a display overlay which has the ability to display and receive information on the same screen. The effect of such overlays allows a display to be used as an input device, removing the keyboard and/or the mouse as the primary input device for interacting with the display's content. Such displays can be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen) A graphics tablet that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper. A Graphics tablet consists of a flat surface upon which the user may "draw" an image using an attached stylus, a penlike drawing apparatus. The image generally does not appear on the tablet itself but,

rather, is displayed on the computer monitor. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_tablet)

3. Firewalls are iatrical in the safety and security of a computer or network. A firewall
filters information coming through the internet to your computer or network. If an incoming packet of information is flagged by the filters, it is not allowed through. Information on how firewalls work can be found on howstuffworks.com. Two characteristics of firewalls include being able to customize the level of protection for your specific needs and that a firewall can be software or hardware. (http://www.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm).

4. Two methods of connecting to the internet are dial-up access and cable modems. Dial-up connections are established using telephone line and a modem. The modem calls the internet provider and connects over the phone line. Typically the service providers for dial-up are OSPs (online service provider) such as AOL and PeoplePC. Cable modems allow access to high-speed Internet services through the cable television network. Coax cable is used to connect your computer to a modem and then the modem to the cable line in your home or office. Cable access is typically offered by ISPs (Internet service provider) such as Suddenlink, EarthLink, or AT&T. (Discovering Computer 51,52)