How To Protect Your On-Line Identity

How To Protect Your Identity Online

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.

About the Author: By Katerina Mitrou for http://www.free-web-browsers.net/. Here you'll learn how
to protect your PC against spam, spyware and about:blank hijackers.   Re-printed from
Entireweb Newsletter   •   June 27, 2006   •   ISSUE #243.