Global village widow

Barbara, 69, is a widow who acts as a hub in a global Internet village, helping new retirees, and older people generally, cope with Internet issues.

“I spend a considerable amount of time browsing -- checking out weird and wonderful websites -- and mostly my experiences are rewarding but every now and again I come across troubling issues that I pass on to the people I help.”

"Often, one hacking is enough to send people scurrying for firewalls, virus scanners and every conceivable type of protection they can lay their hands on," says Barbara, "but they’re wasting their time and money. If someone is determined to get into your system he or she will do so -- no matter what."

“I believe that the more armed you are, the better the challenge for the hacker (who wants to steal information, corrupt your system and frighten you) or the cracker (who just enjoys the challenge)," says Barbara, "so I don’t bother.”

"If elderly people are paranoid about this sort of thing," says Barbara, "then they shouldn't be using the Internet. Making friends online isn't the same as making friends in real life. You don't know who you're dealing with half of the time, and in this sort of environment you've got to accept that you're likely to meet more creeps online than you would in real life."

"Most of the hacking and cracking isn't really done by people you meet online," explains Barbara. "It's either random, or deliberately done by ISP employees who have nothing better to do. But the most likely people to break into your system are the people who run servers."

"Novice net users just don’t understand," says Barbara, "that when they visit a website or an IRC channel, they are exposing themselves to people running servers who may want to know a bit more about their visitors than they have a right to know."

"Privacy declarations aside," says Barbara, "the Internet is really not a very private place to spend time."

"And the more you use it," laughs Barbara, "the more risks you run. This is a problem particular to cable users because they’re online 24/7. With the old modem system that I use, my IP changes every time I connect to the Internet and I can disconnect easily when I detect a suspicious site."

The most important bit of advice Barbara gives novice Net users is not to keep any personal information on their PC.

"If someone did hack into my system," laughs Barbara, "they would be bored out of their brains by what they find. I have all my personal stuff on CDs. And, if anyone did try to steal my identity then they would have a bit of trouble passing themselves off as a 69-year woman!"

Barbara’s attitude is that Big Brother is everywhere these days.

"The only guaranteed way to maintain privacy and safety on the Internet," she says, "would be to check out permanently. You may be six feet under, like Hank, but you'll be safe."

"Apart from government snooping," says Barbara, "most of the hacking is a game. It may be a crime, with a law forbidding it, but nobody really cares when personal computers get broken into. Except for the person who's been hacked, of course."

"There's a rumor, too," she adds, "that the hackers and crackers are paid by web security firms in order to drum up business! Their rationale -- if the rumor is true -- is that people who've been hacked tend to rush out and arm themselves with the latest in PC security. But it’s really not necessary."

"Honestly, I feel far safer on the Net than I do out there in the real world," confesses Barbara. "I may be an Internet addict but at least my addiction spares me from being mugged on the streets by heroin addicts!"

Read more about Barbara's story:

online caring communities

hijacked online communities