- In this report
- Overview
- Phishing
- Viruses
- Spam
- Spyware
- Social networking
- A safer net
- How criminals deceive
- Where criminals plot
- State of the Net
- Properly erasing hard drives
- Ways to stay safe online
- Canadian online security
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September 2007
Prospects for a safer net
Several initiatives are under way to help secure the Internet. E-mail authentication is a technique that Internet providers
use to verify the author of an e-mail. Microsoft uses Sender ID, which helps it block 20 million forged messages per day sent
to its Hotmail service. This spring, the Internet Engineering Task Force, which sets Internet standards and protocols, approved
its first proposed authentication standard.
In late 2006, Congress passed the U.S. Safe Web Act, giving the FTC more authority to work internationally to protect consumers. To gear up for its growing Internet security workload, the FTC recently requested a 10 percent increase in its consumer-protection budget. It's also working on its agreements with other countries.
Microsoft Windows Vista, introduced in January, closed many loopholes in Windows that let online threats flourish. As more people use Vista, we'll keep an eye on how well it protects them.
Although these initiatives may make the Internet a safer place in the coming years, for now, much of the responsibility for protecting consumers falls upon consumers themselves. "You need to be the one who is too much work for the criminals," says William Yurek, a senior counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice.
In late 2006, Congress passed the U.S. Safe Web Act, giving the FTC more authority to work internationally to protect consumers. To gear up for its growing Internet security workload, the FTC recently requested a 10 percent increase in its consumer-protection budget. It's also working on its agreements with other countries.
Microsoft Windows Vista, introduced in January, closed many loopholes in Windows that let online threats flourish. As more people use Vista, we'll keep an eye on how well it protects them.
Although these initiatives may make the Internet a safer place in the coming years, for now, much of the responsibility for protecting consumers falls upon consumers themselves. "You need to be the one who is too much work for the criminals," says William Yurek, a senior counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice.
