The issue of Identity theft seems to be getting worse and like most important things people either burden you with too much information and you lose interest or you are simply not aware of the things you need to know to make informed decisions.
The Internet tends to get portrayed as this evil thing to be feared, this is not entirely true. My view is that there are bad people on the Internet in the same way that there are bad people on the street, it then follows that if you would take precautions when you are on the street or in your house to protect yourself you must also take precautions when you are online The Internet is not the issue, it's about some of the people who use the Internet!
Social networking sites are a good example of where you should exercise caution and common sense - just becasue something is easy to use does not make it safe and it is your reposibility to protect yourself regardless of what a site says it does or does not do. I read an article where a investigative journalist armed with a persons name and occupation used only a laptop and Internet access to discover his full name, home address, home telephone number, route to work, schools attended, universities attended, career history, hobbies, leisure interests, daughter's names, daughter's ages, daughter's schools, daughter's friends, information on his wife and other extended family members in under 3 hours. With criminal intent it would have been a short step to access other sensitive information such as banking and credit card details of not just himself but members of his family.
Most of this information came from social networking sites coupled with other publicly accessible information, however often criminals can gain acces to physical information which most people diregard.
Here is my advice for staying secure online and offline:
- Protect your computer by not only installing antivirus and antispyware software but ensure you know who has access to your computer. If you are not sure who can help you do this, it just so happens that I know a man, more information here.
- When using social networking sites be careful what information you share, if you do want to share information use the site's privacy settings to control who sees what information, if the site does not have such controls - do not share any sensitive information or close the account.
- When using shared computers or even you work computer (which belongs to the company not you) be wary of what information you share online and what is saved on your machine. When I was an IT manager a senior manager got fired for the possession of the most vile pornographic materials on his computer, this material was only found because it had infected his machine with all sorts of nasty things. This is an underestimated security loophole.
- Beware what information is being shared about you - this goes for credit refrence agancies as well as what other people are posting about you on social networking websites and on the Internet in general.
- Never stick dodgy removable media such as USB sticks and sd cards into your machine if you dont know whre they came from and they have not been checked for viruses (viri surely?) and spyware.
- Never ever throw away confidential infromation in the bin, buy a shredder and use it.
- Never ever leave you credit card behind the bar or in the possesion of someone you do not know well.
- Try as much as possible to vet the people who have access to your house or computer, as mentioned I can help with the computer side of things, more information here.
To summarise, remember that there is a burgeoning market out there for personal information and you must protect the things that you do not want revealed.
Stay safe!
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