Identify theft has been a growing concern across the globe. Along
with reviewing credit reports and financial statements for unauthorized
activity, there are a few simple tips you can follow to assist the
protection of your personal information online.
TIP 1: Create passwords
that would be hard for others to guess. Using a combination of numbers
and letters has been accepted as a strong password. Implementing an
unorganized pattern of capital and lowercase lettes increases the
level of password strength. However, these type of passwords can be
difficult to remember. Another choice of a password selection is a
passphrase. A passphrase is a sentence that you can easily remember.
Due to the length and combination of numbers and letters, this provides
a very strong password. An example of a passphrase is: "Idrivea2003GrandAMGT".
This passphrase is very strong due to the reasons: 1.)numbers mixed
with letters 2.)Capital letters mixed with lowercase letters 3.)total
number of characters in the password is greater than 10 characters.
TIP 2: When accessing
any personal or financial data, use only your own computer. Resist
from using someone else's computer such as a friend or coworker's
computer. Also resist from using computers in Internet cafes and public
libraries.
TIP 3: After accessing
any personal or financial data, be sure to log out of a website each
time you finish conducting any type of online transactions. By not
properly logging out, another user can sit down to your computer and
review your information.
TIP 4: Avoid giving
your personal information to unknown parties online. Avoid clicking
any type of communication with unknown email or pop-up ads. Avoid
downloading any software from unknown websites.
TIP 5: Be very careful
using free public wireless Internet access. Coffee shops have become
popular for free Internet access. Unfortunately, the free access isn't
secured. Resist using public wireless connections to access any personal
or financial data.
TIP 6: Use and regularly
update antivirus and spyware software. In addition to antivirus and
spyware software, make sure your computer is using the most current
security updates and patches. To learn how to automatically download
and install security updates with windows XP, please click
here. If your computer’s security is
compromised by any type of malware, your information is at risk. To
learn more about how to protect yourself from malware, please click
here.
