While there’s nothing you can do to eliminate all the security risks to your online identity and private data, there are several measures you can take to dramatically boost your online security.
- Use Strong Passwords
The ideal password is one that even you don’t know. Unfortunately, you do need to know your passwords. So you have to try to come up with passwords that are as hard to decode as possible, but which you can still remember. Your best bet is to use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols. For example, while mycatistwoyearsold is a rather poor password, mYCatiS2yeArsoLd#! Is a much better one, though arguably not as easy to remember.
- Use a Password Manager
Password managers can generate complex passwords for use with websites and applications. Since password managers keep track of all the passwords, you only have to use a master password to log into your favorite websites. All you have to do is create a strong master password, like the one above with the cat, and remember it. Good password managers include LastPass, 1Password, and KeePass. There are password managers for all operating systems and devices.
- Disable History and Cookies When Surfing the Web
Firefox and Google Chrome, as well as all the other major web browsers around, enable you to browse the web incognito or at least disable history and cookies. Web browsing history and cookies, when in the hands of a person with bad intentions, compromise your online identity. To protect yourself disable history and cookies, or choose to surf the web incognito, which means history and cookies and disabled automatically.
- Use Temporary Credit Card Numbers
When you purchase something online and pay with your credit card, you have to provide your credit card number. The secure interface used by e-commerce shops when you enter your credit card number dramatically reduces theft risks, but even so, there is always the chance that the information may end up in the wrong hands. Some banks feature a service that provides unique credit card numbers that expire after first use. If this service or any other similar to it is available from your bank, do use it.
- Use Free My iPhone or Prey to Recover a Stolen Mobile Device
Free My iPhone and Prey are two apps that help you track the location of your stolen or lost iOS or Android device. Free My iPhone also lets you wipe out the personal data on the stolen iOS device. If you wish to protect the personal data on your mobile devices, using such apps is probably the best solution available at the moment.
- Use Ad-Block Addons and Spam Filters
Whether it be your desktop, notebook, tablet, or smartphone, using ad-block addons and spam filters as extensions to your web browsers, email apps, and social media apps significantly reduces your risk of suffering an online identity theft. That’s because many of the online identity thefts occurring every day are caused by spyware distributed through spam emails, malicious links, and suspicious ads.
Do the six things above and it will be unlikely you’ll ever suffer a major online identity theft or similar problem.
The post is authored by Alfred Richards. Alfred has an excellent memory and highly analytical mind. Apart from that he has great experience of PHP and word press. Visit his site for VPN service and iVPN.net.
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