Another area of concern for your privacy is email and instant messaging. It
is possible for hackers to gain access to your emails and to your instant
messaging text sessions. It is a very difficult process, and most individuals
will not have to worry about it, but it is a possibility.
If you wish to protect against outside sources reading your emails or
instant messages, the best way is through an encrypted email or encrypted
instant messaging program.
These programs generally require that both yourself and the person you are
e-mailing or Iming are using the same program. This is because the way they
protect your privacy is by encrypting the text which you are writing. If you
send an encrypted message to someone not using the same software as you, they
will not be able to read the message but will only see the encrypted text.
Encrypted email and instant messaging are not largely used these days. However,
as the internet continues to develop and more and more people become concerned
about online privacy, the usage of these programs will most likely increase.
Firewalls
One of the best ways to protect your privacy and your computer online is
through the use of a firewall. A firewall is a protective element that filters
everything that comes onto your computer from the internet, blocking out
anything that might be harmful to your computer.
There are two basic types of firewalls: a hardware firewall and a software
firewall. A hardware firewall is a special unit which your computer connects to
and then it connects to the internet. This increases security because anything
that the firewall is blocking never actually touches your computer, but only
the firewall.
A software firewall actually functions on your computer, although other than
that it follows the same basic pattern as the hardware firewall.
Firewalls use different methods to determine whether a site is good or bad,
and you are able to customize how your firewall works. For example, you could
have a firewall set up to automatically block any sort of download. Or web
pages with certain file extensions.
The basic way these programs work is to examine the content of a given web
site and break it into packets. If a web site is deemed to be unsafe due to its
content, it will not allow that web site to come through, protecting you and
your computer.