22
Nov
Holiday Season Online Security Tips
Keep these five questions in mind this holiday season to help you protect your personal assets.
1. Is your bank really a closet drama queen? Don’t trust urgent requests for personal data.
* Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information. The more dramatic the request, the less likely it is to be valid. Scammers typically include upsetting or exciting statements in their emails (”Your account will be frozen unless …”) to get you to react immediately.
* If you don’t use the financial institution that’s asking for data, why are they contacting you?
* Fraudsters often ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers. Their emails are typically NOT personalized, while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are.
2. Is it safe to click the links in an email to get to a web page?
* If you suspect the message might not be authentic, the answer is always ‘no’. Instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web address in your browser
* Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information
3. Are the kids using your laptop to surf the Net?
* Because you know they aren’t worried about spam, infected sites or fake URLs. Quick - install a desktop security program on your laptop or home computer to help identify tracking cookies, viruses or unexplained activities that could mean you’ve been unwittingly recruited as part of a botnet.
4. Buying something from an online story you haven’t used before? Are you using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser?
* To make sure you’re on a secure Web server, check the beginning of the Web address in your browsers address bar - it should be “https://” rather than just “http://” . Look for other proof of authenticity, such as a Verisign, BizRate or BBB certification.
5. Do I have updated spam and anti-virus protection? If not, is that why my computer is so slow?
* If the answer to the first part of this question is ‘no’, then the answer to the second part is probably ‘yes’. No amount of email or online caution will protect you if you don’t use some form of spam filtering and - at the very least - a desktop anti-virus security program for your computer.
* If you’re running a business from home you need business-class security. Invest in an affordable secure router, which will keep 99.9% of viruses, Trojans, spyware and spam out of your life and that of your clients and business colleagues.
