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How To Protect Your Identity Online
The Author Background: By Katerina Mitrou
for http://www.free-web-browsers.com/. Here you'll learn how
to protect your PC against spam, spyware and about:blank hijackers.
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How
To Protect Your Identity Online By Katerina Mitrou
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Webmaster Tips, Hints and Resource Articles
Archive - Click
Here
Surfing the Internet is a daily occurrence for
an increasing number of people these days, as technology expands
and online services continue to grow. Many people go online to carry
out banking transactions, shop, check e-mail, and catch up on news.
That's why it's more important than ever to protect your identity
while surfing the web. As identity theft becomes more prevalent,
it's necessary for everyone to be extra vigilant in protecting personal
information - before it gets into the wrong hands.
Every time you go online and conduct some type
of transaction, whether it is monetary or an exchange of information,
you put your identity at risk. Unfortunately, criminals use the
Internet too, making use of the technology to perpetrate identity
theft. This type of cyber-criminal gathers personal information
online and either sells it to others for profit, or uses it to his/her
own purpose.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to stay
one step ahead of these "bandits" and keep your identity
as safe as possible. The Internet landscape is always changing,
so you need to keep on top of things if you want to remain as safe
as possible.
The first thing you need to do is learn how to
avoid phishing scams. Phishers use fake e-mails and websites to
pretend they are actual, trustworthy companies and institutions,
such as banks and insurance companies. When people receive a fake
e-mail or are directed to a counterfeit website, they are tricked
into revealing passwords, credit card numbers, and other such information.
Be warned: the criminals are good at what they do, so you must be
very careful when dealing with e-mails from your bank or other organization.
The key thing to remember is that real institutions never ask you
to verify personal information online - be cautious and contact
the sender directly, over the phone, to authenticate the request
and, if necessary, provide any information they might actually require.
Because many phishers use spam e-mail as a way
to obtain your personal passwords and information, install a good
spam filter to keep out as much spam as possible. If you strain
out most of the problem e-mails from the get-go, you won't have
to worry about dealing with too many suspicious messages on your
own. Also, avoid sending any sensitive information via e-mail or
instant messengers. Scam artists are notorious for intercepting
e-mails and IMs. Use common sense when dealing with e-mail as well.
For instance, avoid opening e-mail or IM attachments that you deem
suspicious. Only open files from someone if you know the sender
and what they are sending you.
And NEVER send your social security number over the Internet.
No one should be requesting it, but if you are asked for it, confirm
who is requesting it and send it directly to that person.
Another great way to prevent ID theft is by password
protecting all your computers, laptops, and PDAs. For each item,
come up with a unique user name and password. The same rule should
be followed when selecting passwords for any online activity. Why?
If one password is discovered by an individual with ill intentions,
and all your bank accounts, credit cards, and other private logins
use the same password, he/she could gain access to everything. When
selecting passwords, create them with letters, numbers, special
characters, and make up nonsense character strings not found in
the dictionary. These will be much more difficult to decipher by
a potential scammer.
Keep the amount of personal data present on your
computer to a minimum. In the event that your computer is hacked
or your laptop is stolen, you will be much less prone to ID theft
because you won't be giving the thief much to work with. Another
good idea is to install a personal firewall program. Although systems
such as Windows already contain a basic firewall program, setting
up another program will ensure that your computer is hidden from
hackers, stop intruders from reaching sensitive information, and
let you control Internet traffic.
Purchase antivirus software and keep it updated.
A high-quality virus protection package can help prevent and eliminate
viruses, Trojan horses, and other dangerous items designed to steal
your personal information. It will also scan e-mail and IM attachments
for viruses.
In addition to antivirus software, be sure to equip
your PC with the latest in anti-spyware protection. Although a great
many of the spyware programs out there simply monitor your online
actions for the purposes of marketing, some have been created for
malicious reasons, including keystroke logging and, of course, identity
theft.
One last tip: when you decide to update your computer
and throw away or sell your old one, remember to remove all your
data from the hard disk. Many people mistakenly believe that simply
deleting files makes them disappear - but this is not the case.
When you delete files they are still present on your hard drive,
and have to be erased prior to handing the machine over to another
person. Software known as wipe programs or shredders can be used
to overwrite data with zeroes or random patterns making it completely
unreadable.
It's well worth the effort to take the precautions
necessary for keeping your personal information under lock and key.
Trying to clean up the mess left behind by an identity thief can
take years, and will cause you a headache or two. So take charge
and protect your personal information, using common sense and a
few good tech tools to keep the cyber-thieves at bay.
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