Proactively Protect Your Financial Data

Home

3/13/2005, 2:00 pm

You protect your social security number. You secure your credit card information in your wallet. You shred unneeded financial information. You work hard to protect your financial data from sneaky fingers.

However, if those who study the impact of spyware are correct, the chances are scary that you’ve got spyware installed on your computer.

A survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance in June of 2003 found that 91% of broadband internet users had spyware installed on their computer.

For our purposes, we’ll call all of the personal and financial data you want to protect “Private Data”. Private Data includes information like your social security number, your bank account numbers, your credit account information and anything else you wish to protect.

Here are some tips that will help you protect your Private Data:

1. Never provide enter your Private Data in an unsecure form on a web site. Make sure the URL begins with https:// and not just http://

2. Use and update your antivirus software daily.

3. Use and update your antispyware software daily. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to use three or four different antispyware programs. If necessary, running your antispyware in Safe Mode allows you to remove spyware that can’t be removed when scanning a computer running normally.

4. Use and update your firewall daily. A good idea is to use a software firewall on your computer and a hardware firewall between your computer and the Internet.

5. Never use a link in an email to go to a financial web site. Always type the URL you know to be valid into the address bar of your browser. This will prevent your vulnerability to phishing attacks.

6. Do not become involved in financial transactions with strangers.

7. Don’t get rid of a computer without destroying the hard drive. Don’t recycle a computer without removing and destroying the hard drive. My favorite data security tool for old hard drives is a sledge hammer. (Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes).

8. Remember, “www” also stands for Wild, Wicked, Web. Protect yourself!

Share This Post ...