So who is likely to be spying on us and why?

Well let’s be clear, internet crime is big, very big. The totals are never going to be exact as we simply don’t have a record but you’d be safe to assume it’s going to be counted in billions of dollars world wide. The vast majority of these crimes will not be recorded so an estimate is the best we’ll get.

There are some very powerful cyber gangs across the world, in places like Brazil or China. Cyber Gangs in places like Brazil, China and Eastern Europe have very sophisticated criminal networks. Internet crime, stealing from ordinary people can be very rewarding with little risk. You can see the attraction to the criminal fraternity big rewards, safe and very low risk.

So we know that gangs will routinely target the average internet surfer, furthermore many will be extremely careful in how they steal from you but there are literally endless ways to steal your information and ultimately your money. The bonus was that this version of XP had preinstalled spyware and trojans, as soon as you got it online, your passwords, account details were sent out to a remote server. The CD contained a version of this Windows XP with spyware and trojans already installed, so as soon as you used this version of XP your details, accounts, and passwords would be passed out to a remote site on the internet.

Just like you protect your personal details at home, some of us do the same on the internet. I want my privacy protected because online I pay bills, order goods, do my banking and many other activities which involve my financial and personal details. Do I want these details logged on servers, routers and at my ISP – well, no, not really.

You see it’s not that hard to steal personal details online, it’s slightly harder to make money from them but not too difficult. It’s certainly the only way a gang of cyber criminals in Rio de Janeiro will be able to steal from you without you holidaying in South America. If you did discover your bank account has been raided like this, what could you do? In reality all you can do is try to get your money back from your bank or credit card provider, either way the criminal will be unlikely to pay for his crimes.

To be truly secure, read this High Anonymity Proxy