How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

In the pre-computer era, people would fall victim to telemarketing scams -- sending cheques or providing credit card numbers in response to fraudulent sales campaigns. This type of fraud has now migrated to the Internet. In order to protect our personal and financial data from being harm, below are the various ways to do it:

• Use a secure Internet browser when you are online

Firefox is one of the secure browsers according to a number of sites that have tested. By using a more secure browser can help protect against from hijacking.

• Clear your memory cache after browsing

After you browse the Web, copies of all accessed pages and images are saved on your computer's memory, the browsing record will grave implications for personal privacy. It’s better to clear the cache after you are done browsing the net. Here are the ways to clear your browser history. If the system asks to auto save your passwords, etc, click NO.

• Keep your e-mail private, use encryption!

E-mail can be easily rerouted and read by unintended third parties which are not a secure medium as many believe. Currently, the exist technologies allow you to encrypt your messages in order to protect their privacy, e-mail programs such as Internet Explorer Outlook and Netscape Messenger. Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is popular encryption software which is free for non-commercial use.

• Make sure anti-virus and anti-spyware are installed and up-to-date

You can either buy excellent anti-virus programs like Kaspersky Anti-Virus or free programs like AVG. Either way; make sure there is some anti-virus and anti-spyware prgram installed. It is a big mistake for most people that don’t install any anti-spware and anti-virus programs. Some good anti-spyware apps are Windows Defender, SpySweeper, SpywareBlaster, AdWare, and Spybot Search and Destroy.

• Avoid giving out information

Don't publicly give out any information online that could be traced back to you as an individual, such as your real name, your date of birth, your physical address, phone number, place of work or other personally identifiable information, including names of relatives.

• Make sure the URL has an HTTPS instead of HTTP

Look in the address bar of this or other websites or email services. In the website’s address, type in the letter “s” after “http” – this can make your connection to the website more secure, but may not work for all websites or email services.

Reading the few safeguards above, may instill paranoia even in the most fearless web user. Remember, the use of the internet is a great way to make your life easier and can be a safe place as long as you follow some simple common sense rules. We must realize that the people in cyberspace are the same people you encounter every day in the physical reality. Even if you never use a computer, your identity can still be stolen from the paper that your throw out in your trash!

- Carmen Lee Jia Wen -