More and more we are hearing on the news channel or reading in the paper about security breaches with the mega companies ending with the news that our personal information i.e.: social security numbers, date of birth, address and phone number, etc. have been disseminated illegally. This leads us to stress and fear that we may be the future victim of identity theft, a nasty and sometimes very expensive experience that none of us should have to go through. Why? Because there was, somewhere, a breach of security. We wonder how that could have happened, with the mega companies so technologically advanced and with mega budgets to avoid such things. But now I ask you, how and what steps have you taken to protect your own identity to avoid the same catastrophic event from happening in your own home or office?
There is so muc
h you can do to help to avoid such an occurrence. Let’s start with the basics- your personal computer. Do you have an anti-virus program like Norton or McAfee to let you know when you may be infected? Do you have a firewall installed to help avoid hacking? When’s the last time you changed your password, and is it more complex than your birthday (yes, you!) or your pet’s name? Does it include letters and numbers, upper and lover case? Has it been the same for more than a month?
How about your laptop- the same needs to be said about it as we spoke about your desktop. However, remember, at least your desktop is on your desk. Once your laptop is stolen, the thief has all the time in the world to access and utilize your information- time to step up the protection here.
Your email holds precious personal and business data. How hackable is it, or is it sitting there just waiting to be pilfered? Delete anything you don’t need- it just takes up hard drive space unnecessarily, and slows down you computer. Clean it out- and reset your password regularly.
If you are in an office or home office, do you lock up your files nightly? Always make sure at the end of the day you put away all confidential information- wandering eyes can see a lot of information in a short period of time. Does your office have policies and procedures in place to protect confidential information?
Welcome to the age of Smart Phones. While it makes it so convenient for us to be able to download our address book to our phone, did you ever stop to think about what would happen if you lost your phone? Think about the data in it- numbers, addresses, perhaps client names, and social security numbers, or account numbers? Do you have a password to keep prying eyes from accessing your phone data?
Do you shred? Time and time again we see on TV how the detectives find evidence and information by going through the trash bin. Be sure to shred anything and everything that may be used to steal your identity. A cross-cut shredder is much more efficient than a straight cutter. Make believe you’re getting ready for New Years and make lots of confetti! Have years and years worth of receipts and statements? Consult with your professionals to see what you need and what can be accessed electronically in the very rare case you may need them, and get rid of them.
This article is by no means a full and thorough list of things to do- it’s just a start. No matter how good you are, there is thief who is better. But if you don’t start, you are just asking for trouble. Be pro-active…protect your identity.
