Every year millions of race workout online to asset information, to do business, to have a good time. Alas, some people go there to commit crimes as well. Though crimes have been committed via the Internet almost from its very launch, now cybercriminals have become dangerous as never before.

We've been warned lots of times about stealing data -- identity theft, phishing scams and pharming; we have at least heard of denial-of-service attacks and "zombie" computers, and now one more type of online attack has emerged: holding data for ransom.

Phishing is a relatively further initiate of online charlatan that focuses on fooling the scapegoat into providing sensitive financial or personal information to a bogus website that bears a significant resemblance to a tried and true online brand. Typically, the victim provides information into a form on the imposter site, which then relays the information to the fraudster.

To view examples of phishing emails go to:

* Citibank: www.ciphertrust.com/images/example_citibank.gif
* US Bank: www.ciphertrust.com/images/example_usbank.gif

Although this beget of humbug is relatively new, its prevalence is exploding.

Is your bustle following the rules?

The potent of budgetary information in many companies is created, stored and transmitted electronically, maintained by IT and controlled via information integrity procedures and practices. For these reasons, compliance with federal requirements such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is heavily dependent on IT.

Whether we be entertained it or not, we are all animate in the Information Age. We have cipher reclusive but adapt to rapidly developing information technology, no matter who we are and what we do for living.

The Internet, in particular, means for us boundless opportunities in life and business but also lots of dangers unheard of just a decade ago. We should be aware of these dangers if we want to use the huge potential of the Internet and to avoid the hazards it brings us.