Have you ever logged into your e-mail account and gotten an email such as one that says something like “You’ve won a million dollars! Congratulations!”? This seems like a sweet deal; a million bucks and you did nothing for it. Seems too good to be true? The old axiom is still in place and functioning today; it probably is. If you read carefully, you must provide them with access to your bank account, so they can wire the money into you. They probably won’t be putting anything in, but they might take quite a bit out. Another common one is to get your log-in or password information to a website. People will create false e-mail addresses and pose as a representative of the site. For example, someone could stick the word “MySpace” in front of an AOL email address and ask people for their passwords to run site maintenance, and somebody would probably do it.

There is also the possibility that these e-mails are just filled with viruses or mal ware. These can be stopped by an everyday virus scanner, but some more intricately woven viruses can sneak their way through to your system. Looking at your email providers “spam” section isn’t enough to stop the problem either. Did you ever notice how often you have to go into the spam folder to retrieve a message that was not actually junk at all? The same could happen the other way around; a spam email could sneak its way into your inbox folder, and you would read it without thinking twice; game over! These viruses are often wired to completely fry your computer, or to try and extract vital information from your hard drive and then bring it back to the individual responsible so they can wreak more havoc on you.

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Your location (that’s right; in real life!) can be found in many ways. People can search your name on Google and possibly pick up where you live, or they could just take a look in the phone book and find your phone number. These numbers can be traced or perhaps they will just impersonate someone in order to get you to give them your address. This is all pretty common stuff in today’s society. There is one way, and possibly the easiest way, that people don’t realize that can truly compromise your identity.

It comes from the least likely of sources; your computer. Your computer has an IP address, which is like a virtual nametag that includes information such as your browsing history, your location, and possibly an open portal to your hard drive. From your hard drive a hacker could have access to your computer and all of its contents; passwords, bank account numbers, etc. From here a malicious hacker could install a virus to crash your system, and this is all done remotely, and through the IP address.

This has never made sense to privacy advocates; why is the IP address totally public? It’s true, your IP address is completely public and can be seen by anyone. They don’t even need any fancy technology either, as there are readily available technologies and even guides on how to find someone’s IP address. Try it, do a quick Google search!

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Every thing you do on the Internet is being watched and recorded by somebody or something. This isn’t a major problem, as a lot of the stuff and surfing you do on the web is just mindless browsing. It becomes more serious when you begin to use credit card numbers, bank account information, or passwords and log in systems.

The government is behind a lot of these security surveillance systems, and this isn’t meant to cut them down. After all, they are dealing with matters of national  security, and that is nothing to joke around with. They have all sorts of information intercepting programs in place, and many other safe guards that prevent any citizen from consorting with terrorists or doing any other illegal activity.

Some people are a bit worried by all of this though. They have been law-abiding citizens throughout their entire life, so why are they being watched? They feel that this amount of time the government takes watching them could be put to useful other stuff. They think you should have to screw up first before being monitored.

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Everyone has heard about the “Cash For Clunkers” program the government has instated of late, in an effort to get Americans to trade in their uneconomical, “gas guzzling” cars. The program offered a significant amount of money to citizens who decided to pursue this route, and they actually traded in their big cars for more miles per gallon, smaller cars. This seems like a good move for everyone, as everyone needs money, and the government is working to decrease pollution and keep the environment a bit cleaner; a win-win.

The program is done through a website, www.cars.gov, and from there dealers and people alike can see the options they have for trade-in values and can sign up for the program. Everything sounds good right? Wrong. Fox News’ Glenn Beck recently uncovered some ominous news from the website and its fine print that absolutely no one reads.

He says that once you go to the site, sign up and sign in, that you are directed to a Privacy and Security act site. This is standard stuff right? The kind of stuff that you see and blindly accept on every website you visit. This is where you made the mistake. Lately, the news have seen some cases of these terms of service agreements containing some questionable doctrines and other little pieces of information they assume no one will even bother to read. They were right for the most part, but there is always that one curious guy to spoil their fun and actually read the contract before accepting it.

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The Internet is a place where anonymity is completely necessary. A place where you interact with so many different people from all over world has to be, due to its nature. What makes it even worse is the fact that so much information is flowing from your computer and the rest of the Internet at all times, and much of it is completely unsecured. If you ever see a little yellow lock in the bottom right of your screen, you will see that that site is encrypted. You don’t see that on any site except banking, so you are pretty much unprotected all of the time.

There has always been a negative stigma attached to staying anonymous. Staying anonymous doesn’t mean you have something to hide though, it simply means you care about your safety in the treacherous Internet landscape. Hackers prey on those who are unprotected, and it is easy for them to discern who is and who isn’t. For one, they first check the IP address. If the IP address is showing and not hidden, they will strike. Your IP address is a portal to all aspects of your Internet life, your browsing history, your sensitive information, and even your hard drive. Hackers don’t even need any special technology to see your IP address, it is completely public.

This IP address being public has baffled many for quite some time. It is such a hazard to have public, yet anyone can see it. Thus, the change IP proxy was born. The proxy does as it name suggests; changes your IP. This defeats the privacy problem, it allows you to surf the Internet completely anonymous too.

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Your IP address is like a virtual nametag you wear everywhere you go online. It shows your location, and for the Internet-savvy, can show browsing history and even, (harrowing enough) can give access to your hard drive. As you can see, an IP address isn’t something that just anyone should get a hold of and see. The reasons are numerous and obvious, but here are some major ones why people change their IP address.

1) Bypass IP Bans:
If you have ever logged onto a site in which there are usernames and a forum system where people can put up topics and others comment, you will know they are moderated. These moderators have the power to ban users if they have violated the rules, and sometimes do unjustly; they are only human. They most often block via IP, so every time you log onto the site with your IP address (your nametag; it never changes) they see that it’s you, and reject your access. If you changed your IP address however , through use of an IP changer, you would be allowed to roam and post once more.

2) Conceal Your Location:
As was mentioned before, these IP addresses contain your location, meaning you can be tracked through them. Understandably so, some people are afraid of someone intercepting their Internet activity and possibly finding out where they are from it. Everyone has heard the horror stories of the kids communicating with a stranger online and then getting paid an unexpected visit, but the truth is, they don’t even have to be told the location; it’s right in front of them.

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