Internet Privacy, Internet Hackers and the Law

We all rely on the internet and on our data and e-mails to be protected from others (even though people in the know say that every search you make is recorded permanently on your computers and on others).

And what is the punishment for internet hackers? If they are Democrats, will they be forced to attend Republican political rallies and have to watch Fox News 24 hours a day while in prison, or is the punishment even more diabolical?

In all seriousness, what these two instances show once again is the ease with which a person’s e-mail account, data and websites can be hacked.

Such crimes, however, can be difficult to prosecute. First the hacker must be caught and if he or she does not boast about his crime and uses public computers to perform his thievery where the hacker himself is not under surveillance, it may be difficult to catch the culprit.

Second, most state statutes require that the person committing the crime be present in the state when the crime was committed. Computer hacking is one of those crimes however, where the criminal is often in a different state.

To go after the culprit in civil court can pose similar problems, including determining who performed the hacking, obtaining jurisdiction over that person in your state, and finding a defendant with any assets to pursue.

If you are worried about internet security, you should be. Features on many accounts that allow you to simply tell the site you forgot your password are magic to computer hackers such as the one that apparently hacked Sarah Palin’s e-mail account.

To be a little safer, you shouldn’t use the same password for all of your internet accounts and websites. Otherwise what you use at one account can be used to enter all of your other accounts if someone unscrupulous obtains your password. If you use a forget your password feature, answer the question with something ridiculous. Tell them that your favorite dog’s name was Thomas Edison instead of Fido and that your mother’s maiden name was Rothschild (or, if you want to be more ridiculous, that your dog is named Rothschild and that your mother was Thomas Edison).