My horror story on Internet Security by Xin Wang

I am a new International student who came from the rural parts of China and didn’t know a thing or two about Internet security.

That is until I got to Melbourne and purchased a new laptop. A new laptop is quite expensive and I didn’t want to fork out another $100 for Internet security. My laptop was $2000 (or 10000 RMB in China). My parents were working in a rural farm and they had to take out a huge bank loan for my education and living expenses in Melbourne.

Myth 1: The Internet is so big that no one will ever want to single out my computer and online accounts

Yes I thought I could just type away without a care in the world. I was going on all these sites which are quite dangerous at the time

Myth 2: Firewalls and antivirus software are sufficient in protecting my computer against threats

I had wanted to use my free trials that I got with McAfee Security Antivirus program but what I didn’t know was that it only protected me for one month and it did not update me on any new viruses.

Myth 3: There isn’t anything worth stealing on my computer and at uni where I use the facilities

I also used my uni’s free wifi and Internet system and what I did not know was that a potential hacker was lurking around. I was using the university’s IT lab for my banking thinking that it will be alright. Little did I know that my bank account was hacked into. And I thought that Commbank was safe. Turns out though that someone spent my $2000 on an expensive degustation dinner and I don’t do expensive dinners because I can’t afford it. Moreover that someone spent that money on a new Swatch watch.

I notified the bank and luckily they changed everything for me. But still I was in shock when I saw that $4000 went missing. The bank however wasn’t able to recover the money for me. They suggested that I buy a proper Internet security program and that I update it once in a while to stop new threats from coming. Just a firewall and the trials was not enough.

Myth 4: I deleted all my sensitive information so I am safe now.

Once I also deleted some sensitive information that I no longer needed only to be told that a hacker went straight through my stuff. What I did not know is that it was in my hard drive and the hackers also kept on sending spyware. It got so bad that my whole system shut down and I had to buy a new laptop.

So with $8000 gone I’d think it was worth installing a anti viral system such as Norton and backing up all my files online.

SingleHop is a cloud computing and technology company in the United States and they are trying to help people stay safer online by teaching them about these security facts. If we can all help teach each other how to protect ourselves, we will all have a better chance at staying away from hackers and other people who want to steal our information.