Technology has evolved and grown drastically that everything we do nowadays is largely related online. Right now we can shop online with the availability of online and mobile commerce. We can discover and communicate with our friends online on different social media. We can have doctor consultation with telehealth services. There are also a number of gaming websites that allow us to play our favorite games and even earn money online. In Vietnam for example, players win real money amount by playing keno trực tiếpp or live keno.
New technology surely made our lives better and easier. However, it also gives unscrupulous people an opportunity to harm us. In the 2018 Identity Fraud study of Javelin Strategy & Research, the number of people who became victims of identity fraud reached 16.7 million in the US. A report from newswire detailed that there are 167,000 reported cases of fraud complaints relating to credit cards in the US alone.
If you are not careful you could be one of them. The good news is that there are ways you can do to protect yourself from identity theft. The following are some of the simplest ways you can do to shield your data online.
Secure your email
thieves will most likely target your email. They can impersonate your contacts or create a fake website then send you an attachment. So, it is recommended to not click any link from a strange email. Furthermore, don’t reply to their emails. It is also advisable to erase email with sensitive information so that the criminals will have no way of snatching your sensitive information.
Always verify
Never give your information to anyone or website, unless you know who you are dealing with. Make no response even if the person that contacted you say they are representative from a legitimate company. Contact the company support first and inform them that their representative is asking for your data. Furthermore, it is important to ask them why they need that information.
If you are signing up for an account at gaming websites, make sure you verify first their reputation before you proceed. Try reading reviews or check out their license. Take note also if the website has an SSL certificate. Secured websites give their visitors visual cues such as the green bar in the URL box, lock icon, and sometimes trust seals.
Use security software or update them
Software such as antivirus programs, encrypted messaging apps, password managers can help you protect your personal information. If you already using this program, make sure they are updated. An updated software provides fixes and detects virus faster.
It is also useful to back up your files to an external hard drive. In this way, if you are attacked by ransomware or perhaps something happened to your computer, you still have your important files. However, if you are going to use the hard drive for backups, always unplug it when done copying. If your hard drive is connected when the virus attacked your computer, the hacker will also be able to hit your hard drive files.
Protect yourself in the public
Free public Wifi in coffee shops or malls is pretty convenient until hackers come in. Hackers can use unsecured Wifi to distribute malware. They can easily do this especially if you allow file-sharing across a network. So, it is safer to use 4G connections instead of using public wifi. For more protection, try enabling a firewall and disabling “network discover” in your device settings. Many security experts also advise covering the webcam and microphone of the laptop to prevent hackers from spying on you