3 Ways You Are “Giving” Your Information to Identity Thieves
WARNING! Even with anti-spyware, anti-virus, and a firewall installed on your computer and network, you could still be a target for identity thieves, hackers, and cyber criminals.
You have done everything right! You have installed a good firewall, you keep your anti-virus up to date, and you are making sure to keep up with the latest security patches. You feel confident that your computer network should be safe from identity thieves, right?
WRONG!
According to studies done recently, 40% of electronic identity theft cases had one similarity: The identity theft was caused by an action taken by the user. That is right, more than a third of thefts were not thefts, but giveaways!
So how can you avoid this from happening to you or your company?
No one is 100% safe. Try following these three tips and they will stop you from accidentally giving online criminals access to your computer network and confidential information:
- Never download free music files, videos, or programs from file-sharing sites such as Kazaa. These sites are giving stolen materials, and they are a surefire way to introduce worms and viruses to your computer. If you are a business owner, set up web filtering software to prevent employees from downloading any unauthorized programs or files.
- Never respond to any email from a bank, credit card company, PayPal, or online store where items are purchased (such as eBay) asking you to verify your account information, no matter how credible or legitimate it looks. These types of scams are called phishing scams set up to gain access to your online account information.
- Ask for personal identification from any person asking for physical access to your electronic equipment and instruct your staff to do so as well. Just to test a theory, I asked a friend to walk into an office, say they are from “the phone company” responding to a problem, and ask to see the network. Access was granted to a stranger 100% of the time.
Give us a call or visit the rest of our web site to see how you can get a Free security audit to make sure your company is protected.
Call: 440-322-4537
Visit: www.iler.com/contacts
