How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

Data, considered as a valuable asset is definitely the thing most wants to get hold to. Data of customers or of the company itself, are able to disclose information that are normally very difficult to be attained. Contact number, address, credit card number and bank account number are such information hidden within the data of a person from the strangers. However by knowing all these data of a person, it is possible to perform illegal activities on that person. For example, hacking into his bank account to withdraw his personal savings. The data can also be used to manipulate the person, that is by knowing things he like, special promotional activities can be used to target him.

With the ever growing potential and usage of the internet, it is crucial to maintain a high level of security to ensure our privacy. How exactly should one protect and keep his personal data, especially financial data from being intruded and exploited?

1. Be sure to keep your personal and sensitive data off your computer. What can a virus or spyware program possible do with your personal data if you don’t store it on your computer? It’s simple and very effective. Try your best to keep bank account numbers, passwords, etc off your computer. If you want to keep it in electronic format for easy access, that’s fine, simply buy a secondary storage (pendrive) and store all the sensitive files there. Keep it in a safe place and if you need to refer to the documents, then just plug in your drive. What can someone steal when there's nothing to be stolen?

2. Try to connect only to secured network. If you have a home wireless network, secure it quickly. Connecting to non-secure wireless networks is asking for trouble. Most people’s computers constantly have spyware on their computers because they connect to lots of insecure hotel wireless networks constantly. Try avoiding sharing network especially public network if possible.

3. If you have to do any online transaction, clear your browser’s cache after each transaction. Sometimes your browser will save certain information you typed into forms or blanks when you are online, so it’s always good to clear that after you’re done. Also, if you get that message sometimes from your browser asking you whether you want it to automatically save your passwords, click no. If you do, someone else using your computer will have access to it without having to login because you've SAVED the password!

4. Make sure anti-virus and anti-spyware are installed and up-to-date. You can either buy excellent anti-virus programs like Kaspersky Anti-Virus or free programs like AVG, which is pretty good too. Either way, make sure you have something installed. Make sure you have a strong firewall too, to block unauthorized access as well as to fend off annoying pop-ups. Don't forget to constantly scan your hard drive for viruses too, in case any sneaked in.

5. Make sure the URL has an HTTPS instead of HTTP. The S makes all the difference because it stands for secure. When you buy something from Amazon or another big site, once you being to checkout, the URL always starts with a HTTPS. This means that the communication between your computer and their server is secure and encrypted. If someone tries to read the data as it travels across the Internet, they won’t be able to understand or decipher it. If you’re buying something from a smaller site and they don’t have HTTPS, and its more risky.

6. Try to "lock" your computer when you're not using it. This is another one of those tips that most people don’t think about, especially at your office. If you leave for lunch and your computer is just on without a password-protected screen saver, what will stop a snoopy co-worker to get onto your computer and look through your personal information? It may not seem likely, but it can very well happen and it’s better to press CNTRL-ALT-DELTE and press Lock Computer or put a password on your screen saver or simply use an extra program like Lock My PC.

7. Be careful who you give your computer to when it needs fixing. Sad to have so many unethical people around. People simply trust technical support people too much. If someone is going to fix your computer, have them come over to your house and just watch as they do it. When you’re off in another room while they fix your computer, they can also be copying your entire hard drive for themselves. Its just as easy as 1,2,3 for them to copy your whole hard drive for them to slowly explore after that to dig up your personal data.

8. If you really have to send or save very important data in your computer, use advanced techniques like encryption, anonymous browsing, virtualization software to hide them. You can encrypt your data, browse the Internet anonymously, or run IE or Firefox in a virtual environment. The advantage of the latter is that you can actually catch a virus or spyware program in the virtual environment and it won’t affect your operating system at all.

If your personal information is really that important, or if you simply like to keep your personal information personal, put more effort into precaution. Fend of attacks before you get attacked. Offensive is always better than defensive. It is better to prevent than to cure.

(Sources:
http://www.online-tech-tips.com
http://images.google.com)