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On-line
Design Portfolio
Are you looking for someone who can design a brochure for your next corporate function? At Promethius Consulting, we strive to create print materials with impact and purpose. From stand-alone pieces to entire corporate identity packages, we can represent your company in the highest form.
Promethius Consulting now offers an on-line design portfolio, so you can view
some of our best design projects. Click here
to see our work. If you have a unique print project that you would like to send our way, please feel free to
contact us. We'll work with you to satisfy any of your design needs.
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Definition of the
Month
Courtesy
of Webopedia...
Browser-Short
for Web browser, a software
application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most
popular browsers are Netscape
Navigator and Microsoft Internet
Explorer. Both of these are graphical browsers, which
means that they can display graphics
as well as
text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia
information, including sound and video,
though they require plug-ins
for some formats
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Security and On-line Transactions
Most of you have probably heard of recent security breeches at eBay and Teledata Communications Inc. (TCI). While these two cases are very different from one another, they are both examples of how we are all vulnerable in the digital age.
The eBay incident involved using eBay spoof sites (sites that look like eBay.com) to steal account information including usernames, passwords, credit card information,
etc. Some of the malicious things the perpetrators did include purchasing big ticket items on the user’s behalf, making actual purchases with the user’s credit card, and so on. This type of crime is fairly common with on-line stores. Amazon.com (generally considered among the most secure) currently loses about 2.5% of its sales to on-line fraud.
How to protect yourself
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Don’t allow Internet sites to store your credit card information. If they don’t ask, always assume that they intend to store it and do not submit your order.
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Change your passwords frequently. If the site allows it, change your user ID also.
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Use a credit card with a low credit limit for on-line purchases.
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Only provide the minimum data that a site requires and never include your Social Security Number.
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Investigate and report oddities immediately. Cancel your credit card the moment that you suspect it may have been compromised.
(http://www.cybercrime.gov/reporting.htm)
The TCI scam falls squarely into
the crime category of identity theft. A former employee of TCI, a company that provides the computerized means for banks and other entities to obtain consumer credit information from the three commercial credit history bureaus, allegedly used his access codes to steal credit reports which he and his accomplices would then sell on the black market.
How to protect yourself
There is little that you can do to protect yourself against this type of crime other than live entirely on a cash basis. Here are a few things that might help, however.
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Keep detailed and accurate records of all electronic transactions so you’ll be able to recognize aberrations early.
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Investigate and report oddities immediately. Cancel your credit cards the moment that you suspect they may have been compromised.
(http://www.cybercrime.gov/reporting.htm)
Remember, these are only two of many types of on-line fraud. Here are some general tips:
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It’s a good idea to investigate the on-line companies you are purchasing from before providing credit card information to them.
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It’s ok to lie. You needn’t always provide honest information in “required” fields if you don’t feel comfortable sharing that information.
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Always assume that your information will be shared and that every submission will lead to more spam. When possible, use a free e-mail account specifically for these types of transactions (e.g.
yahoo.com, hotmail.com, etc.). This will reduce spam problems at work or home.
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Make sure that you have firewall and antivirus protection for your computer(s), especially any computer with a dedicated Internet connection. Trojan Horse and spyware software can be loaded on your computer without your knowledge and may be used to record user IDs and passwords and send them to others.
If you would like to hear more about security options, please contact Promethius Consulting at 317/733-2388.
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