Everyone loves to surf the internet. It has become a national past-time of ours. But it can be a very dangerous place. We have all heard stories of hackers and viruses, identity theft, hidden cookies and programs used by companies to track our activities. How do we protect ourselves against those who would do us harm online?

How the Internet Works

One thing that many internet users do not understand is exactly how the internet works, and how this affects online privacy.

Every web site that you see online is being hosted somewhere in the world on a special computer we call a server. This computer is designed to share the information which makes up this web site with all computers that are hooked up onto the World Wide Web.

In order for a browser’s computer, like yours, to be able to retrieve the information that makes up a particular web page, the computer must first make a request to the online server. This opens up a channel of information flow between your computer and the server hosting the web site.

When your computer makes this request, the hosting server is getting information on your computer, such as your IP address, where you are coming from to get to this web site, etc. Web sites often monitor this information in order to gather marketing info on who is using their web site.

Having the IP address can give users quite a bit of information on you. It can tell them where you are, and depending on the information sources available, it can even tell them your name, your street address and phone number.

Hackers can also utilize your IP address to come into your computer. It is your address online, and functions similarly to a web site address. (All web site addresses are actually numeric like your IP address, such as 14.38.382.23, but they also have translated domain names which are written in English but correspond to these numeric addresses.)