The following article was submitted to the blog by Shaun Orton, Facilities Manager. He thought this was great information that everyone could use. Thanks, Shaun!
5 Ways To Hack-Proof Your Life
By
With shoppers still
reeling from Target’s massive pre-Christmas data breach, Starbucks confirmed
last week that it’s popular iPhone mobile payment app — used by about 10
million people — was unencrypted. The company said it’s not aware of any
customer information being compromised because of the lack of encryption, but
it quickly released an updated, more secure app.
Here
are five easy ways to stay ahead of the hackers:
1. Lock your cell phone.
Sure, it’s annoying to punch in four digits every time you want to use your
phone, which is probably dozens of times a day (at least). But that’s a minor
inconvenience compared to the huge hassle that awaits if someone snatches it
and steals your sensitive data.
2. Think before you post
on social media sites. Business websites often require you to answer security
questions before you can log in, or when you want to change your password. But
the questions are relatively common ones, such as asking your mother’s maiden
name or the name of your first pet. If you’ve reminisced about your beloved
childhood dog on Facebook, or given a shout-out to your mom, Jane Doe Smith,
via Twitter, savvy hackers can use this info to hijack your accounts.
3. Check your credit
card accounts daily. Amazingly, nine out of 10 people never check their credit
card statements before paying the charges, says McAfee’s Siciliano. But you
can’t catch unauthorized charges if you don’t read your statements. Siciliano
recommends viewing your accounts daily or at least weekly to look for
suspicious charges, since customers typically have 60 days to refute them.
4. Opt for credit rather
than debit. It may seem safer to use your debit card — you have to punch in a
PIN, after all — but Siciliano says debit card hackers have access to your
actual funds. Additionally, debit card companies generally only give you two
days to refute erroneous charges. So use credit, and check your bank account
frequently as well.
5. Protect your
passwords. It’s too difficult to create (and remember) a gazillion unique,
unusual passwords, which is probably why an Adobe security breach in October
found that the most common customer passwords were 123456, 123456789 and
password. Combat this problem with a password manager such as 1Password or
RoboForm. These products create and store complex passwords for all of your
accounts. You simply create and remember one master password to use the
program.
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