I am old enough to remember the days when the internet new technology. A 33kbs modem provided speed o' plenty for surfing the new fangled World Wide Web. The internet was touted as an annymous place where people could surf and access information. Stores had yet to launch websites, local governments weren't online, Google wasn't king, and porn sites were few. But after years of using the internet, I have found out some things most people don't know, and I'm going to share ;).
DARPA Invented The Interwebs
That's right. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency developed it. The interwebs roots stemmed from a project to build a computer network that could not be taken down by catastrophic events.
Internet Privacy
The internet has never been based on privacy. Quite the opposite. Computers require unique addresses in order to communicate with each other. This makes perfect sense when you consider who developed it (Wouldn't it be nice to know which node suddenly went offine?). ISPs keep records of which customer uses a particular address, even static addresses.
Port Scanning?
Even though port scanning is illegal in this country (and many others), your modem is scanned hundreds of times per day. Who's scanning you? Everyone from hackers to your ISP.
Back Doors
The internet is full of software (useful and otherwise) that allow back door access to your computer. The US government requires them to be built into all software used for communications (like email and chat clients).
Online Information
Whatever you put online, stays online. Why? Backups. Most people know the risks of storing online data, but what you may not know is your information is most likely stored in several different locations (virtual or otherwise) each with their own risk of attack.
Free Speech
No such thing. Every website owner is responsible for the content on their websites and can modify or delete content to suit their needs.
Social Networks
These sites are nothing more than data farms. Wanna know something about someone? Make a friend request or follow them ;).
Spammers
Reporting a spammer to his ISP will result in an ocean of spam.
Public Internet Access
Logging into your accounts on a public access point is dangerous stuff. Freely available software (like Firesheep) can hijack http sessions with a click of the mouse, giving the attacker full access to your account.
Disinformation
There are websites built specifically for this purpose on every subject imaginable. Some of it is used to propel sales, put competitors at a disadvantage, push bad software, or to skew facts.
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