Besides what goes on in the internet, your privacy and even safety, can be violated pretty easily if your computer gets attacked physically. Someone, for example, steals your computer or breaks into your house. Not to mention if you have a laptop computer, then your computers physical safety is in severe risk. Your documents can be read by anyone who gets an access to your computer, your emails can be read, your passwords and login information can be stolen and used without your knowledge, and documents that you have deleted earlier can easily be recovered and read. 

Not to mention that your computer can be installed with Trojan horse programs that monitor your computer usage and steal your passwords! Computers and operating systems themselves provide no security or very limited security, and only if you know how to use them properly. Would you like that your personal files and emails would be read by some criminal or psycho that broke in to your house or stole your laptop computer? Would your company like the idea that documents related to your work are read from your machine? I bet not. If you are a reporter or journalist, then these issues can be a matter of life and death to you, depending upon what information does the villain or hostile government get their hands into.

Also remember, that Windows and many programs in Windows OS environment, create logfiles and history information about your activities. Most of them are pretty harmless, except that they take up your hard-drive space, but there are some which you should think about. Your TEMP-folder, for example, can contain almost anything. It can have copies of documents you have deleted, programs you have installed or uninstalled, log files from various programs, etc. If you are using normal settings, you Internet browser is almost a gold mine: it stores information about the sites you have visited for weeks, in theory, forever! So, anyone getting into your computer, one way or the other, can easily see what did you see in the net and when. Programs also contain information about what files were last opened. Also, remember, that deleting a file doesn’t erase it…when you delete a file, Windows simply marks those clusters as “unused” so that something MAY be written to them in the future. Using a simple, freely available undelete tool, most of them can be recovered even months after! You need to overwrite the files if you don’t want them to be recovered by anyone. Even this is not enough to 100% stop the data from being uncovered. Government agencies working with classified information know this, and actually take a hammer and smash the hard drive of any decommissioned computer. However, the use of a few good programs and a good understanding of security issues will go along way in securing your personal data.

Also, in many xxx-rated sites they offer you to download file that they say “will let you to see all xxx-pics and videos”…they are usually dialers, and when you launch them, they can make your modem (if you have one that is) to call somewhere like Brazil....on to some very high-cost xxx-phone service. Your credit card information can also be stolen and used for hackers own amusement and you have to clean up the entire mess and perhaps even pay a part of his “shopping”. Also, if someone is just being naughty to you, they might lock you out from your own email service by capturing and changing your passwords. Or send email under your name to your friends, boss, anyone.

These are just some examples about what not only can be done, but what is done on daily basis. There is a very good chance that if you don’t pay attention and know how to protect your privacy and security, some hacker or cracker,  an unscrupulous business or Government Agency or other psycho might get to your computer. Usually things don’t get that far and there are plenty of easy targets in the net, so you might be lucky enough not to get abused or hacked. But don’t count on it. Protect yourself, because nobody else will!

Ever heard of system called: Echelon ? It is global spying network created by (as far as is known) USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It not only scans all international communication lines (using 120 satellites, microwave listening stations and an adapted submarine) but also analyses and stores usenet (email) messages. All of this is done transparently and automatically (bits are easy to handle). There is no certainty of how long this network has been active, but it was "compromised" a couple years ago when its existence became known to the public. What other secret spying operations are in place by Government?

"NSA (National Security Agency of USA) has also intercepted confidential company communications and given them to favored competitors. Thomson S.A., located in Paris, and Airbus Industrie, based in Blagnac Cedex, France, are said to have lost contracts as a result of information passed to rivals. The U.S. government misled states in the EU and [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] about the true intention of its policy," the report (http://jya.com/ic2000.zip) adds… European Union has considered that Echelon is a severe threat to safety and privacy in the EU region and has suggested that strong encryption from “open sources” be used to counter it. “Open source”, because NSA has planted several backdoors to encryption systems around the world. More information about EU and Echelon can be found at this site.

Remember, that Echelon or companion system Carnivore, does not just spy on companies or other governments. It spies on everyone. Everything that moves in bit-format. Just think about it: Big Brother IS watching. Every email you send, every message you post, every page you visit, every phone call you make, every electronic purchase you make…they will know about it! Scary. Horrible. And worse, reality. 

You might say: That's too much, its not possible. Well, for one example. Every web name in use on the internet (www.*whatever.com) etc. Must check with the name registry in Reston Virginia in order to be directed to the server that has the actual web site on it. All registered names are on the ICANN computers. The computers are fast enough to handle all of the internets requests. The benefit of this is that no matter where you access the internet in the world, the same name will get the site you want. The downside would be that for every request, source and destination info. is known by ICANN. Tracing is relatively easy.

I Strongly suggest you read these two document about NSA and Echelon. The first one is about NSA infiltrating to cryptosystems and companies around the world and being able for the last 40years to intercept and decrypt and read ALL diplomatic communications from over 120 countries because of a NSA build-in backdoor to cryptosystems! The Second link below gives more details about Echelon project.

Its electromagnetic radiation "leaking" from every electronic equipment. Including your desktop PC... We are used to thinking that spying is something that you do with hidden cameras, microphones or sneaking into someone’s office. Well, maybe we should start to think otherwise. Snooping information from your computer is basically much, much more easy.

TEMPEST attacks are most easily done by analyzing the electromagnetic radiation from your monitor (usually). With kind a phased array antenna & few electronic components it is possible to "see" what you see in your computer screen...But as an exception that it can be done from across the street and there’s absolutely no way you can know whether or not you are targeted by TEMPEST. This makes it very powerful way to do some serious espionage.

Here is an EXCELLENT site about TEMPEST, piles of links: http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/tempest.html

The concern about government tyranny is not new. It has been held by thinking people since Governments began. In America, the founding fathers held the same concern. It was the basis for the 2nd Amendment. the right to keep and bear arms. This was not to protect ones self against foreign enemies, but to keep those in power in check. The great equalizer.

Fight the invasion. Use encryption and simple security programs. And, get involved in government or at least write your representatives to express your concern over Freedom and Privacy.