Did you ever want to disappear?
I think everyone has that thought once in a while. Wouldn’t it be nice to be invisible to phone calls, coworkers, kids, taxes and ,recently, political robo-calls? But though every once in a while, most of us would like to close our eyes and pretend no one else existed, it just isn’t practical, not to mention possible.
Several people in history have managed it. For example, Amelia Earhart, probably the most famous “disappearer” of all, vanished along with her copilot somewhere over the South Pacific in 1937. Glenn Miller, jazz musician and famous band leader, disappeared as well when his flight went over the English Channel in 1944. 3 lighthouse keepers off the coast of Scotland disappeared in 1900 and were never seen again. An opera “The Lighthouse” was written about the incident. Perhaps fittingly, Agathie Christie, the renowned mystery writer, went missing in 1926 for a total of 11 days. She reappeared, however, but offered no explanation for where she had been or why she fell out of contact.
Had these and others been alive today, they may have disappeared on purpose to avoid internet hackers and email phishing schemes. Being invisible on the internet isn’t quite possible, but you can certainly do a lot to protect yourself and your online activities.
Read on to see what you can do to be invisible to hackers avoid seeing your credit card funds disappear.
Am I really a target?
· The answer is YES. Here are a few recent breaches and statistics:
· The recent Playstation database breach exposed 70 million information records to hackers on the internet.
· Morgan Stanley Smith Barney lost 34000 investments clients’ data
· The London Health Service said that a laptop was stolen that contained the unencrypted medical records of 8.6 million patients
· Keystroke-recording Trojans were found on hundreds of computers in public libraries across the US
· 1/3 of users in the UK report being infected with malicious software in 2010
· It is estimated that 70 million Americans have enough personal information shared on the internet to have their identities stolen.
Really? I’m not really sure . . .
Believe it.
10 million ID thefts were reported in 2009. The average amount stolen was $500 per victim. The most common internet crime by far is credit card fraud. Almost everyone has had this happen or personally knows someone that has had the experience.
Arizona, Florida and California have the most incidences of credit card fraud.
Every 79 seconds an identity is stolen.
The most surprising fact concerning identity theft is that even though 85% of computer users believe that they are actively being targeted for identity and credit card theft, only 45% of people are really concerned and take steps to keep themselves protected.
I believe it! So What can I do?
Luckily, some very simple steps can greatly reduce the chance that you will be victimized.
Use STRONG Passwords
A proper password should have at least 10 characters. It should contain both upper and lower case characters. It should contain numbers and symbols.
The general rule for passwords is that if any part of the password appears in the dictionary, it is not a good password. Hacking algorithms are so good these days that even a seemingly strong password can be hacked. It’s just a matter of time before your top-secret sacred password that you’ve used for years (password1) will be compromised.
Never use a bank pin as a password, and avoid using the same passwords for everything. I know this is tempting, but don’t do it!
Someone once illustrated to me how strong their password was by telling me “It’s so long and complex that I can’t remember it!” I proceeded to look at his desktop calendar, and there in the bottom right hand corner, was the long and complicated password written down for anyone to see. After I pointed this out, he changed it to a 10 character, easier to recall, credential. So remember, if you can’t remember it, it isn’t very secure.
Minimize what you share
When choosing what to put out there on Facebook, Twitter, your Blog or your personal website, follow these simple rules:
NEVER EVER . . .
1. Share your Address with the public
2. Share your phone number with the public
3. Share your Birthday with the public
Fill out only what is necessary and skip the “optional fields.”
If the form you are filling out is not critical, or if you are signing up for a “one and done” transaction that will not require ongoing communication with the vendor, feel free to lie.
Safely Dispose of old computers
If you have old equipment that at one time held important personal information, don’t just take it to be recycled. Call us to destroy the data for you, or at least remove the hard drives from the equipment and destroy them or keep them in a secure location. Even after a drive is formatted, data can be recovered from the hard drives years later by anyone who comes across it.
Opt out of everything that is unnecessary
Take the time to remove yourself from the newsletters, coupon sites, and online subscriptions that you never take the time to read. The less communication with internet sources, the less your exposed risk will be.
Use Online Banking
You might think that it makes sense to stay away from online banking if you are trying to stay safe online, but in reality, it makes sense to check your transactions frequently. If you are using some sort of online banking you are much more likely to catch a suspect purchase quickly rather than after charges have been incurred for an entire month.
Use an Online Identity Protection Service
Although we don’t use or endorse any online identity protection service, here is a side by side comparison of the most popular services to consider.
http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_protection_services/index.php?a=2&kw=gidtpb8+protect%20your%20identity&gclid=CPSAmdSf6q0CFZMj7Aod3Xlg6Q
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions about internet security, please call us. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have. And if you really want to disappear, you can get “How to Hide: A Practical Guide to Vanishing and Taking Your Assets With You” by David Wilkening. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-hide-david-wilkening/1100821025?ean=9781601383099
Happy Hiding!
