10 Things You Can Do to Increase YOUR Electronic Security We’ve all heard of instances where someone’s PC“got corrupted”, or a friend’s email was “blasting out spam” to all their friends, or even seen that link on Facebook about the “secret video revealed” that we know is bogus yet was posted by “a Friend”. How do these things happen and how do we keep them from happening to us? None of us want our financial or personal information stolen, have our expensive technology devices rendered useless, nor have it look like we are conducting a spam campaign for some special pharmaceutical discovery. What can we do? Well, I wish I had a magic pill (see email soon to follow!?!) that would help, but the best we can do is to reduce the risk as much as possible. Hopefully these 10 things will help each of us do that. 1. Think about what information you have made available, and who it is available to. a. Would you put the same information on the bulletin board at the local supermarket? b. “think like a criminal” – if someone who wanted to do bad things knew particular information (out of town & no one home, new big purchase) would you want them to? c. Can you limit who seeswhat? DOIT. 2. Use COMMONSENSEand have people/places you trust to double check concerns. a. If something looks “too good to be true” – it probably is. b. If something looks “strange & suspicious” – it merits a bit more checking. c. Would your Bank or other businesssend something real generic wanting your info or informing you of security needs? Are you really EXPECTINGa package or eCard? d. Curb your curiosity, greed, voyeurism or anything else that may get you in trouble. e. When in doubt, double-check and make darn sure! 3. Understand that there are no “Fact Checkers” for most things you see. a. Believe it or not, people LIE to get you to do something you shouldn’t. b. ANY big news event will have some sort of scam result from it, be it “confidential video links”, “donation sites”, or other ways to get you to let your guard down. Best thing to do is go to places you trust for information, not rely on random notices. c. Big money does not come from random contacts (there is no “free lunch”). 4. Never open an attachment or click on a link unless you know specifically what it is, know it actually was from who it claims to be from, and you ‘expected’ it. a. Seeitem #3 above – scammers will use ANY MEANSPOSSIBLEto get you to think that you really must click a link or open something. b. Often if you ‘hover’ your mouse over a hyperlink, it will show you what it REALLYis.
c. Even if it LOOKSto come from someone you know, yet it isn’t typical or wasn’t expected, it is possible THEIRINFORMATIONor ACCOUNTwas used without them knowing it as simply another way to get you to let down your guard. d. Check the “.***” extension of an attachment. “.EXE” items can be REALLYbad. e. SCAMchecking sites can be helpful i. www.snopes.com www.hoaxbusters.org are 2 good ones ii. MANY others – find your favorite and use it! f.
Try to determine what any website link you see REALLYis – the cryptic shortened URL’s (web addresses) make that hard, so maybe try www.longurl.org first to ‘reexpand’.
5. Be proactive and do periodic checks on YOURinformation. a. Think about setting up a GOOGLEALERT(www.google.com/alert) on your name to see where it is being used. b. Check your credit reports on an annual basis i. http://www.annualcreditreport.com ii. The link above is the ONLYGovernment blessed site for this purpose (see below) iii. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm 6. Use up-to-date tools and keep them “patched” a. Current Internet browsers continue to refine security capabilities b. Current email clients have better spam filtering c. Most tools now have regular security updates – make sure you install them! d. Older tools didn’t worry as much about “security” – they were “just on your PC”. 7. Leverage all the tools & settings that you can. a. Social websites, email tools, mobile phones, and other things almost ALWAYShave some sort of area where you can set SECURITYto something you think is appropriate. b. If you think protecting your identity, finances, or just general security is important (that is, if something happened, would you regret not doing something to help prevent it) – you MUST spend some time to understand what you can & should do. c. You MUSThave basic security tools on any device (Mobile, PC,Pad, Network) that has information or accessto information that is confidential i. Anti-Virus protection is a given ii. “Find my (i)Phone” tools to deactivate remotely
iii. Firewalls that limit traffic through your network could be useful. 8. Truly KNOWanyone you allow into your (social or physical) “network”. a. If someone you DONOT KNOWwants to be part of your network, you have to ask yourself “why” and “why would I”. “NO” is an OKanswer. b. NEVERlet someone use YOURaccesscredentials or device (mobile phone, PC)without knowing IN DETAIL what they are doing or can do. 9. Manage your passwords appropriately. a. Make them HARDTO GUESSbut EASYTO REMEMBER. Try the following methods… i. http://email.about.com/od/staysecureandprivate/qt/et_password_sec.htm ii. http://www.tedcurran.net/2011/07/make-a-hard-to-guess-but-easy-toremember-password-for-greater-cloud-security/ iii. Google it to find other options you may like better. b. NEVEREVERgive them to ANYONEelse. c. Try not to use the SAMEPASSWORDEVERYWHERE– once it’s gone, everything could be at risk. You can add a small piece to a similar password for different uses. d. You really should CHANGEthem regularly (every 90 days or so). e. Passwords are the LOCKSto your identity safe! 10. Realize that most of your vulnerability can be helped or hurt by things YOUcontrol. Such as: a. Making your information too public b. Making your security “too cursory” and thinking “it won’t happen to me”. c. GIVINGyour information to people you probably shouldn’t (knowingly or unknowingly)
Gary C. Kern