Li Ming Wong posted an excellent article about avoiding scams on the Internet. It is important to continually reiterate to everyone that the Internet is safe, but it is your responsibility to keep it safe.

I want to add suggestions to those from Li Ming Wong:

• Educate yourself

If you don’t know how to avoid falling prey to scams on the Internet, the first time, you have a legitimate complaint. However, the second time, you have no one to blame, but yourself.

1) Read SANS Top-20 Internet Security Attack Targets
2) Review US-CERT Cyber Security Tips
3) Read University of Penn’s Desktop Security 101

• For financial scams, you can always check the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
• For websites, always check with McAfee’s SiteAdvisor

Be safe in your Internet adventures!

If you do encounter a problem, report it. It helps others who may visit the site after you and it will help you in court if, in unfortunate circumstances, it gets that far.

• How to complain in the UK
• How to complain in the US

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1. Nearly three quarters of the North American population is online

The Internet is an environment where there is very widespread use by most of the modern world and the use is heavily concentrated in the western world.  Currently, usage by people in North American is at 69.5% with a growth of 115% percent between 2000 and 2007 (Miniwatts, 2007).

2. There is enormous growth of the Internet throughout the globe

Even with a significantly high usage by people in North America, the Internet is a platform with instant global business reach without the usual complications that traditional international business operations encounter.  The potential growth on a global scale is wide open where usage is only 17.8% of the world wide population, but with an astounding growth rate of 225.0% between the same time periods of 2000 to 2007 (Miniwatts, 2007).

3. 110 hours online between work and home

As an information portal and the new entertainment medium, the Internet is dominating the work and home life of a lot of Americans.  The average person in the United States spent over thirty-three hours surfing the web at home in the month of June, 2007.  Contributing to an astoundingly high usage is the average amount of time that a person in the United States spent on the Internet at work – over seventy-seven hours (Nielson//NetRatings, 2007).

References

Miniwatts Marketing Group. (June 30, 2007) Internet World Stats. Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Neilson//NetRatings. (June 2007) Average Web Usage. Retrieved from http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/resources.jsp?section=pr_netv&nav=1

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