Ah… the Internet: ripe with opportunities, curiosities and all kinds of wonderful things. And that's just one side of it, too! On the other side you have the opportunists, individuals who are curious to break into your personal information, and also wonderful talents of virtual exploitation. For every great thing about the internet, there is likely a bad thing to make the odds even… that's just the way things work, when it comes to humans. And let's not forget the Internet is essentially the world's largest human network.

There are many people out there on the Internet who are genuinely willing to help you with advices, tips and tricks as well as strategies to achieve whatever you're trying to do. Conversely, there are people whose designated goal is to steal from you, hack into your personal accounts, and generally disrupt your regular cyberspace routine. I don't mean to put you off against the Internet, but you should think of this as a call to action: action against the dark side of the Internet and the evils it can brew. While there's not much you can do against it, you certainly can learn how to avoid becoming a victim too often. Oftentimes it's just a matter of being cautious and careful while knowing what to look for.

Case in point, we shall discuss phishing attempts - a form of password hacking. As the name suggests, these kind of dark-hued exploits revolve around the concept of retrieving your passwords, login details, or private information in a way that you'll actually hand out such information without realizing so. For example: many eBay accounts are compromised by a hacker sending out hundreds of thousands of emails that look to have come from eBay. The email contains a call to action, or basically asks you to click a link which you *think* is an official eBay page. The page is really a fake, and as soon as you enter your details they are compromised. Nowadays, there are some highly creative and ingenious phishing scams going around, which get progressively more sophisticated. But as long as you watch out for certain details, there's no reason you'll end up getting tricked.

For example, if you ever receive an email asking for personal information of any kind. Be it your email provider, your dating service, or even your bank... Think about it, for a second: why would someone that already knows your login details (since they were inserted in the database from the beginning) would ever contact you asking for such details? The answer is simple: they wouldn't! It really doesn't make sense, but many, many people are scammed this way. So do us all a favor, and when you get any kind of email message asking you to “input your password to confirm your account” or something of the like… always think before you act. And never act by handing your personal information on a silver platter… 99,9% chance that any email asking for your personal information or login details is a phishing attempt. As rule of thumb - if something smells fishy on the internet, it probably is or just be cautious. Don't end up with with fish on your face!