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How to keep the information stored on your computer and smart phones safe

Written by: Albert Whale

Article Overview: With a little effort you can protect yourself from identity theft.

How to keep the information stored on your computer and smart phones safe

You may be careful about locking your doors and windows, setting your alarm to your home, but it’s just as important to keep your personal information in your computer locked and secure too.

Depending on what you use your personal computer for an identity thief may not need to set foot in your house to steal your personal information. You may store your SSN, financial records, tax returns, birth date, and bank account numbers on your computer or smart phone. These tips can help you keep your (smart phone) and computer—and the personal information they store—safe.

* Virus protection software should be updated regularly, and patches for your operating system and other software programs should be installed to protect against intrusions and infections that can lead to the compromise of your computer files or passwords. Ideally, virus protection software should be set to automatically update each week. The Windows XP operating system also can be set to automatically check for patches and download them to your computer.

* Do not open files sent to you by strangers, or click on hyperlinks or download programs from people you don’t know. Be careful about using file-sharing programs. Opening a file could expose your system to a computer virus or a program known as “spyware,” which could capture your passwords or any other information as you type it into your keyboard. For more information, see File Sharing: Evaluate the Risks and Spyware, publications from the FTC.

* Use a firewall program, especially if you use a high-speed Internet connection like cable, DSL or T-1 that leaves your computer connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. The firewall program will allow you to stop uninvited access to your computer. Without it, hackers can take over your computer, access the personal information stored on it, or use it to commit other crimes.

* Use a secure browser—software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet—to guard your online transactions. Be sure your browser has the most up-to-date encryption capabilities by using the latest version available from the manufacturer. You also can download some browsers for free over the Internet. When submitting information, look for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar to be sure your information is secure during transmission.

* Try not to store financial information on your laptop unless absolutely necessary. If you do, use a strong password a combination of letters (upper and lower case), numbers and symbols. A good way to create a strong password is to think of a memorable phrase and use the first letter of each word as your password, converting some letters into numbers that resemble letters. For example, “I love Felix; he’s a good cat,” would become 1LFHA6c. Don’t use an automatic login feature that saves your user name and password, and always log off when you’re finished. That way, if your laptop is stolen, it’s harder for a thief to access your personal information.

* Before you dispose of a computer, or cell phone, make sure that you or an computer expert has deleted all the personal information stored in it. Deleting files using the delete keys, mouse commands or reformatting your hard drive may not be enough because the files may stay on the computer’s hard drive, where they may be retrieved easily by thieves. Use a “wipe” utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive.

* Look for website privacy policies. They should answer questions about maintaining accuracy, access, security, and control of personal information collected by the site, how the information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third parties. If you don’t see a privacy policy—or if you can’t understand it—consider doing business elsewhere.

* Contact your smart phone provider and ask if they have applications you can install so if your smart phone is stolen you can remotely remove personal data and render the phone useless to the thief.

* Password protect your smart phone so if lost or stolen, it will give you lead time to change passwords and account numbers contained in the phone.

* Write down all passwords and account numbers contained in your laptop or smart phone so if stolen you can quickly change all passwords and PIN’s.

* Mark you phone, computer and battery with an ultra-violet pen. Place your zipcode or a name or word you can use to help identify your equipment if lost or stolen.

* Place an alternative number or email address on your phone or laptop so if lost or stolen it will help the finder notify you. Ultra violet pen marks wear off every few months and markings need to be repeated.

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Related Forum Posts
Re: Google Calendar - [quote="mbrand2222":2rrdft2b]Michelle makes a good point, although I'm not sure anything we do on the internet is "safe". From what I've heard, pretty much everything we do on our cell phones or internet is filtered from the top down. Who knows? The technology is definitely there to make it possible. Supposedly they do it to keep our nation safe, but sometimes it just crosses the line too much for me.[/quote:2rrdft2b] Mary you are right, today nothing is safe, your internet provider, cell phone company, google and other SE, all know exactly what you do, when and where. Michelle, nothing is safe anymore, the best you can do is protect your PC with antivirus and spyware, it's not riskier than shopping online.
Re: Google Calendar - Michelle makes a good point, although I'm not sure anything we do on the internet is "safe". From what I've heard, pretty much everything we do on our cell phones or internet is filtered from the top down. Who knows? The technology is definitely there to make it possible. Supposedly they do it to keep our nation safe, but sometimes it just crosses the line too much for me.
Re: What's the best anti-virus/spyware software? - [quote="Alan Mater":rafyjy4t]Hi Tanny, Thanks for sharing those key points from that interview. The first one, SMS viruses, is something I've never thought of before. Luckily I don't own a phone that is OS capable. It certainly is a good point and something phone companies should be taking seriously. It would be just as devastating to have your entire phone wiped out from a virus as a computer would be. I suppose there would have to be a way to backup your phone contents as well, in case something ever would happen. The only backup feature my phone has is with the capability of backing up all of my contacts and storing them on my online account where I have access to them from the computer. It's a very handy feature to have.[/quote:rafyjy4t] Hi Alan, SMS viruses can be found on all phones, usually when downloading ringtones or wallpapers for your phone. It happened to husband and they had to completely format his phone, lucky for him, I sync the phones with my computer all the time.
Re: Protect yourself from Hackers - I've never heard of protection for mobile (cell) phones either, but our phones are certainly not safe. I myself have been a victim of phone scams and it cost me £20 in just 2 days. The only way I could stop it was to get another sim card. It started with one text message, which I opened and that was it, every text I received after that from the scammers, and there were quite a few, I was immediately charged for receiving even though I didn't open them and even blocked the number(s). As soon as the text hit my phone I was charged! My advice: do not give out your phone number online to anyone unless you are 100% sure you can trust them, Carol
Re: Making Money in 2010 - What's Next? - Mobile contents will sell more this year. Cell phones are now replacing our laptops and PC. You can do virtually all thing you do on your pc on your cell phone now or smart phone.


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