Unless you have been living under a rock for the past
several months, you know that several major retailers have been the target of
hackers with information about millions of customers being stolen and resold to
digital miscreants worldwide. Hardly a
day passes without some new report of a bank account emptied or bogus credit
card charges.
While most of us can’t address any major flaws in the
security systems of retailers and we can’t guarantee 100% personal security
unless we choose to go off the proverbial grid, we can do some simple things
that can make identity theft more difficult for those looking to get into our
cyber wallets and purses.
Let’s start with sending email. If you have several people, like your club
membership, that you need to send email, don’t put all the addresses in the
“To” line. Rather, put all the addresses
in the “BCC ” line (the Blind Copy Line);
that way the individuals getting the email do not get the complete list of all
recipients. Those with less than
honorable intentions can harvest email addresses from messages sent using the
standard address method.
Speaking of email, what benefit is it to you to say yes when
the clerk asks if you would like your receipt emailed to you? I can think of
none. Announcing your email to the
others in line at the checkout, at the same time the clerk may have asked you
for your phone number while clearing a check, is just too much information.
So many of us use smart phones and tablets and are delighted
when we sit down at Bob Evans or McDonalds and find free wifi. I use it myself to read the online New York Times, check the weather or sport
scores. This is not a place to do
anything online that you wish to keep confidential.
For example, don’t check your VISA balance and don’t access
your online bank account. Public wifi
access can be easily hacked and you never know if you are actually on the Bob
Evans wifi. It could be that the nice
looking young man at the next booth has a small wifi hotspot posing as the real
Bob Evans wifi and everything you type is being recorded on his laptop.
We shouldn’t be paranoid, but a little common sense can go a
long way to protect your identity.
If you would like more information on online security just
email me your name, address, social security number and mother’s maiden name
and…..
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