Preventing Identity Theft - Computer

Your computer is a goldmine of personal information to an identity thief. Protecting your PC is vital in preventing identity theft.

Simple steps - helping protect your identity

• update your virus protection software regularly - computer viruses can cause your computer to send out files or other stored information.
• look for security repairs and patches you can download from your operating system’s Web site.
• don’t download files from strangers or click on strange hyperlinks that can expose your system to a computer virus or a program that could hijack your modem.
• use a firewall, especially if you have a high-speed or “always on” connection to the Internet - the firewall allows you to limit uninvited access to your computer - preventing identity theft - without a firewall, hackers can take over your computer and access sensitive information.
• use a secure browser — software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet — to guard the safety of your online transactions - when you’re submitting information, look for the “lock” icon on the status bar - it’s a symbol that your information is secure during transmission.
• don’t store financial information on your laptop unless absolutely necessary - if you do, use a “strong” password — that is, a combination of letters (upper and lower case), numbers, and symbols.
• avoid using an automatic log-in feature that saves your user name and password; and always log off when you’re finished - if your laptop gets stolen, this will help preventing access to sensitive information - thus preventing identity theft
• delete any personal information stored on your computer before you dispose of it - use a “wipe” utility program, which overwrites the entire hard drive and makes the files unrecoverable.
• read Web site privacy policies - they should answer questions about the access to and accuracy, security, and control of personal information the site collects, as well as how sensitive information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third parties.

Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft ...