Identity fraud online is becoming an increasingly common problem with more and more people storing personal information and data about themselves online. With an increasing number of services now requiring you to sign up and often upload your identity online, it’s becoming easier than ever for hackers and cybercriminals to get access to the identity of others to use for their own nefarious purposes. Thankfully there are several safety strategies that you can use to ensure that your identity is kept as secure as possible online.
Find Out What’s Available:
While people search websites will not provide anybody with enough data to steal your identity with, it’s always worth knowing exactly what is publicly available on you for anybody to find online. Nuwber can be an excellent source of information; all you need to do is search for your name on the site and you will be able to access all the information that anybody can find about you online.
Use a Password Manager:
One of the easiest ways for somebody to steal your online identity is to steal your passwords. That’s why it’s important to use very strong passwords that are not easy to guess. Bear in mind that since hackers have tools that can check different sequences for numbers and special characters to figure out your passwords, putting a few numbers at the end of your pet’s name or your child’s name isn’t secure enough these days. Using a password manager that will generate and save strong passwords for you is the best way to ensure that your passwords don’t get compromised.
Keep Your Social Media Profile:
Most of us share more information than we realize about ourselves online, especially when it comes to social media. But as you are sharing photos and information about your life on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you could be inadvertently providing cybercriminals with information that they could use to hack you and steal your identity. So, keep your profiles private so you can control who sees what you share.
Look Out for Phishing Scams:
Phishing scams are another common way that hackers get your personal information and potentially steal your identity online. For example, one way that they might do this is to send you an email that appears to be from a trusted source such as your bank. The message might ask you to log into your online banking account through the email, at which point your login details will be stolen. Always double check any emails that appear to be from trusted sources. Bear in mind that most major financial institutions will not ask you to log in via an email. If you do need to log into your online banking, it’s best to go directly to the website where you know it is secure.
Two-Step Verification:
Finally, setting up two-step verification wherever possible for your accounts will help prevent anybody from gaining unauthorized access to them. This means that even if somebody is able to guess your password, you will still need to authorize the login from another means such as confirming it by text message or email.
With more and more information on us now stored online, it’s never been more important to keep your data and your identity safe whether you’re using social media or logging into online
