A shocking report in Wednesdays Daily Telegraph by Katherine Rushton advises that the illegal sale of personal information used on the internet is increasing at alarming rates. 20 million pieces of information such as credit card numbers, passwords, bank details and dates of birth were sold in the first six months of this year. This is 4 times the amount for the same period in 2010.
It mirrors the rise in people entering their details on-line to settle utility bills, pay for holidays or order goods online. Companies and banks urge consumers to take care to protect their details.
Three fifths of users leave websites by closing windows rather than logging out.
More than one-quarter of people never look for the padlock sign in the top right corner of the page.
Hackers sell your information from credit cards on the black market for up to $30/£18 a piece or more depending on your credit limit. Passwords for e-mail accounts fetch $20 while bank account numbers go for $10 – $1000.
One in six Britons open “Spam” e-mails, one in fifty click on the links in them!
Don’t be a victim!
Rosie Amber 