10 Things You Can Do to Increase YOUR Electronic Security

We’ve all heard of instances where someone’s PC “got corrupted”, or a friend’s email was “blasting out spam” to all their friends, or even seen that link on Facebook about the “secret video revealed” that we know is bogus yet was posted by “a Friend”. How do these things happen and how do we keep them from happening to us? None of us want our financial or personal information stolen, have our expensive technology devices rendered useless, nor have it look like we are conducting a spam campaign for some special pharmaceutical discovery. What can we do? Well, I wish I had a magic pill (see email soon to follow!?!) that would help, but the best we can do is to reduce the risk as much as possible. Hopefully these 10 things will help each of us do that.

1. Think about what information you have made available, and who it is available to.a. Would you put the same information on the bulletin board at the local supermarket?b. “think like a criminal” – if someone who wanted to do bad things knew particular

information (out of town & no one home, new big purchase) would you want them to?c. Can you limit who sees what? DO IT.

2. Use COMMON SENSE and have people/places you trust to double check concerns.a. If something looks “too good to be true” – it probably is.b. If something looks “strange & suspicious” – it merits a bit more checking.c. Would your Bank or other business send something real generic wanting your info or

informing you of security needs? Are you really EXPECTING a package or eCard?d. Curb your curiosity, greed, voyeurism or anything else that may get you in trouble.e. When in doubt, double-check and make darn sure!

3. Understand that there are no “Fact Checkers” for most things you see.a. Believe it or not, people LIE to get you to do something you shouldn’t.b. ANY big news event will have some sort of scam result from it, be it “confidential video

links”, “donation sites”, or other ways to get you to let your guard down. Best thing to do is go to places you trust for information, not rely on random notices.

c. Big money does not come from random contacts (there is no “free lunch”).4. Never open an attachment or click on a link unless you know specifically what it is, know it

actually was from who it claims to be from, and you ‘expected’ it.a. See item #3 above – scammers will use ANY MEANS POSSIBLE to get you to think that

you really must click a link or open something.b. Often if you ‘hover’ your mouse over a hyperlink, it will show you what it REALLY is.c. Even if it LOOKS to come from someone you know, yet it isn’t typical or wasn’t

expected, it is possible THEIR INFORMATION or ACCOUNT was used without them knowing it as simply another way to get you to let down your guard.

d. Check the “.***” extension of an attachment. “.EXE” items can be REALLY bad.e. SCAM checking sites can be helpful

i. www.snopes.com www.hoaxbusters.org are 2 good onesii. MANY others – find your favorite and use it!

f. Try to determine what any website link you see REALLY is – the cryptic shortened URL’s (web addresses) make that hard, so maybe try www.longurl.org first to ‘re-expand’.

5. Be proactive and do periodic checks on YOUR information.a. Think about setting up a GOOGLE ALERT (www.google.com/alert) on your name to see

where it is being used.b. Check your credit reports on an annual basis

i. http://www.annualcreditreport.com ii. The link above is the ONLY Government blessed site for this purpose (see below)

iii. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm 6. Use up-to-date tools and keep them “patched”

a. Current Internet browsers continue to refine security capabilitiesb. Current email clients have better spam filteringc. Most tools now have regular security updates – make sure you install them!d. Older tools didn’t worry as much about “security” – they were “just on your PC”.

7. Leverage all the tools & settings that you can.a. Social websites, email tools, mobile phones, and other things almost ALWAYS have

some sort of area where you can set SECURITY to something you think is appropriate. b. If you think protecting your identity, finances, or just general security is important (that

is, if something happened, would you regret not doing something to help prevent it) – you MUST spend some time to understand what you can & should do.

c. You MUST have basic security tools on any device (Mobile, PC, Pad, Network) that has information or access to information that is confidential

i. Anti-Virus protection is a givenii. “Find my (i)Phone” tools to deactivate remotely

iii. Firewalls that limit traffic through your network could be useful.8. Truly KNOW anyone you allow into your (social or physical) “network”.

a. If someone you DO NOT KNOW wants to be part of your network, you have to ask yourself “why” and “why would I”. “NO” is an OK answer.

b. NEVER let someone use YOUR access credentials or device (mobile phone, PC) without knowing IN DETAIL what they are doing or can do.

9. Manage your passwords appropriately.a. Make them HARD TO GUESS but EASY TO REMEMBER. Try the following methods…

i. http://email.about.com/od/staysecureandprivate/qt/et_password_sec.htm ii. http://www.tedcurran.net/2011/07/make-a-hard-to-guess-but-easy-to-

remember-password-for-greater-cloud-security/ iii. Google it to find other options you may like better.

b. NEVER EVER give them to ANYONE else.c. Try not to use the SAME PASSWORD EVERYWHERE – once it’s gone, everything could be

at risk. You can add a small piece to a similar password for different uses.d. You really should CHANGE them regularly (every 90 days or so).e. Passwords are the LOCKS to your identity safe!

10. Realize that most of your vulnerability can be helped or hurt by things YOU control. Such as:a. Making your information too publicb. Making your security “too cursory” and thinking “it won’t happen to me”.c. GIVING your information to people you probably shouldn’t (knowingly or unknowingly)

Gary C. Kern