Online Issues: Identity Theft! |
Article Rating: Average
(# of votes: 1) |
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| Author:
| ranok
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| Submitted: |
12-Aug-2005 01:59:06 |
| Imported From: |
zZine (original author: Ranok)
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| Identity theft has been and still is a nightmare for many people. This article will serve as an introduction to the background of online identity theft, as well as provide simple preventative measures to keep it from happening.
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Q. What is 'Identity Theft'
A. Identity theft is when someone steals your personal information to pose as you. More commonly, the person steals your financial information to make online purchases with money from your bank account. Other instance are when people steal your e-banking PIN number and password to gain access to your accounts.
Q. How does it happen?
A. There are three main ways that someone might steal your information. One way is that the someone intercepts your information in transit to an e-commerce site. Another way is by breaking into your computer and reading the files that contain personal information. Even if you don't have a document listing credit card numbers and passwords, Internet Explorer and other web browsers store all information entered in temporary files, so if you have made an online purchase and entered your credit card information, the cracker could find it and steal your identity. The third way is by reading physical documents such as old bank statements or other mail that has already been thrown away.
Q. What can I do to prevent it?
A. There is no sure-fire way to completely stop identity theft, but using common sense and the SAVE technique (detailed later), it is possible lessen the chances of identity theft. Don't put a file titled "My Credit Card Numbers.txt" on your desktop or post them on the Internet. Make sure you read all the relevant text before purchasing an item, especially if it was at a special trial price or includes a free gift. The SAVE method below will help you remember how to be extra careful with sensitive data.
- S is for 'Shred'. Make sure you shred all old financial papers when you are done with them, and destroy credit cards and CDs when you have finished using them if they contain private data.
- A is for 'analyze'. Research the site before buying. Does it have a good reputation? Has it been around for a while? Check Google to make sure that it isn't a scam.
- V is for 'Verify'. Does the site has 128 bit SSL encryption for your transaction? You can tell if there is a small lock symbol in the bottom left corner on Internet Explorer and the prefix 'https' in the address bar.
- Finally, E stands for 'Encrypt'. Encrypt all sensitive files that you need to have access to. You can buy an encryption suite or download a freeware program. Remember to make a good strong password with numbers, letters and symbols to keep your data safe.
I recommend PGP freeware for more advanced computer users and Cryptainer LE for novices. Both are freeware and can be downloaded from PGPI and Cypherix respectively.
To conclude, using your common sense and the SAVE method will better protect you from identity theft.
This article was originally published by CyberArmy.net in the CyberArmy Library.
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