You may have heard the saying, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Not to add more pessimism to that phrase, but, judging by what we’ve seen in the past, and continue to see today, it seems that we could also tack on “online tax scams” to that list of inevitabilities.

Here’s a recent example: there’s a new tax-related spam campaign that has been making the rounds for weeks but is still going strong today. All US taxpayers should be aware of this one –

There’s some interesting reading, for those who want to learn more about cyber crime and how it’s progressing, over at CNN.com today. The article “Cybercrime: A Secret Underground Economy” takes you through the process of ‘how the deed is done’ and gives estimates for what varying pieces of information go for on the online Black Market.

If you are anything like me, and I daresay, like most young(ish) people of my generation, I would hasten a guess that you are on Facebook or MySpace. I would also lay money on the fact that you randomly update your page with mindless comments about you day- you know the sort of thing I mean. 'I missed the bus on the way to work', 'my boss is in a lousy mood', 'can't wait for my much deserved and longed after glass of wine this evening' etc etc. Dare I say it?

This spring a U.S. Senate bill proposed a right for the White House to disconnect “critical” private computer systems and networks from the Internet in case of emergencies. The bill shifts the responsibility for cyber security from the Homeland Security Department to the White House and the overall purpose with the bill is to ensure the protection of vital infrastructure such as water, electricity, banking and electronic health records from cyber attacks.

“Identity Theft Soars in 2009”
“Cyber Crime at Record Highs”
“Online Scammers Work Overtime in the Downturn”