Net privacy not guaranteed for those who break the law
April
18, 1999
By JIM BROOKS
FBI agents arrested a North Carolina man recently in connection
with a fraudulent Internet news report that caused his employer's
stock price to skyrocket.
Gary Dale Hoke, 25 was arrested at his home in Raleigh after government
cybersleuths traced the fake news report to his Internet provider's
account.
Hoke probably thought, as many of us do, that using false names
and information to sign up for free e-mail and Web space accounts
would give him the anonymity he needed to avoid detection.
He was wrong.
Hoke tried to cover his tracks before creating the fake Web page
that falsely stated his company was the target of a corporate takeover.
It's believed to be the first stock manipulation scheme employing
a fraudulent Web site.
He used the free Web-based e-mail service Hotmail.com to establish
an e-mail identity, and then used that e-mail address to sign up
for a free Web page service.
Hoke posted a message on a Yahoo message board, announcing the
alleged buyout, with a link to his fake Web page. The false page
was created to look like one from the Bloomberg financial news Web
site.
But investigators were able to trace his steps on the Web, and
eventually traced his accounts back to him, allowing for his arrest.
You may not know it, but the rest of us law-abiding Web surfers
often reveal information to Web sites without even knowing it.
If you want to know what your Web browser may be revealing to Web
sites, you might want to visit a Web site called Browser Spy.
Browser Spy does just that -- it lets you see what info others
can see by accessing your Web browser. For example, Browser Spy
detected I was using Windows 98, Netscape Communicator 4.51 and
most importantly for someone tracking my whereabouts -- the IP (Internet
Protocol) address and hostname, both of which are like a digital
footprint.
You would be surprised to learn what information can turn up through
your Web browser, but for most folks there's no reason for concern.
Check out Browser Spy at www.gemal.dk/browserspy/ to learn more
about it.
HAVING IT ALL. If your family includes an infant son or
daughter, then you have been faced with this question: Should Mom
work after the baby is born?
Two-income families have become the norm since the mid 1980s. With
new car prices soaring beyond the cost of my first home, sometimes
two incomes doesnt' seem like nearly enough.
However, there is a renaissance of source among moms, a return
to the mom-stays-at-home way of thinking that has more and more
women re-thinking their need to stay in the workforce.
The New Homemaker is a Web site devoted to mothers who decide that
working full-time at a job and trying to manage a family isn't "having
it all."
These women are putting their families first, and adjusting their
lifestyles to make it happen.
The New Homemaker (TNH) Web site is a wonderful companion for those
who want to "have it all" -- and stay at home with the
children.
The site's creators know that new stay-at-home moms may need advice
and new skills, and the site offers more than moral support.
The main article in this month's "Cleaning" section of
the Web site is subtitled "How to get your family to help out
without resorting to gunfire."
Other parts of the site cover crafts and decorating, family health
news, caring for elderly family members, kitchen tips and recipes,
parenting info, tips for being thrifty, and the importance of volunteerism.
You'll even find online forum and message boards, and you can sign
up to be on The New Homemaker mailing list.
It's all great information, written by women for women.
Visit The New Homemaker online at www.newhomemaker.com.
|
