Posts Tagged ‘stolen’
Protect Yourself from the Threat of ID Theft
We often hear about identity theft scams and the difficulties of coping with it. ID theft is a bit of a misnomer as if we are honest with ourselves and think a bit we shall realize that our identity still remains with us… it is just our cash and valuable data that gets stolen. Regardless, there were measures that could have been undertaken for id theft protection.
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When information is stolen via online means, we need to consider that is was most likely due to some malicious bit of code that has been planted in our computer’s hard drive in some way or the other. It might be due to our mistake and could have gotten planted when we visited a website that has malicious content and that triggered harmful code of some sort being loaded on our computer’s hard drive.
At other times it might be due to the vulnerability of our PC. More often than not, we do not install protective software in our computer… the end result being that it gets targeted by hackers who infect our computer’s hard drive with malicious content and then use the same to activate a particular port out of our operating system to sniff our activities. These all have been discussed many times over in PC security websites.
Those who have been using the net for a couple of month might have received an email from a lonely lady residing in some African country. According to the email, this lady has billions of dollars that is… according to her email… legally hers, but due to the change of power in her country, she needs help from someone from another country to help her take out the cash. In exchange for this task, she is willing to share a certain percentage of the money with the recipient of the email. There are some people that never bother to verify the contents of the email and start following the instructions of the lady.
Sooner or later and after exchanging a few emails, the target (that is you… the recipient of the email), is requested to deposit a certain sum of money to process some papers (again the lady is helpless and shall award you an extra sum of money once her cash is withdrawn). You’ll end up without any money at the end of the task and also be poorer by the sum you sent to her.
Be smart about your online activity to ensure ID theft protection. Take the appropriate measures to protect your computer from malware and other harmful programs is a small investment compared to the loss you could suffer should your identity be stolen
Protect Yourself from Identity Theft Properly
You should protect yourself from identity theft properly. There are so many sites on the internet that provide valuable advise on how to undertake this task, but few people bother to visit them and enhance their knowledge of online security related stuff. These people would rather follow the link to a website that promises them lots of thrilling & sizzling pictures without even wondering the trap they are going to fall into.
If these people have an updated browser boasting of the latest updates and patches, they might get away with their foolishness. If not, chances are bright that the site might inject their hard drive with malicious code routed through their browser. This code then sits silently and hidden in their PC, carefully logging down all their keystrokes.
From time to time these programs establish a connection with their master (the person who is controlling it) and send them whatever details they have been able to mine. If the user of the affected PC has, in the meantime, logged on to his or her online banking services and have checked their account… God help them.
Their login id and their password along with the URL of the site where they were used are now available to the master of the malicious software. They are now at liberty to access that particular bank account and do whatever they like. If you engage in net banking and want to protect yourself from identity theft, you should block usage of third party transfers. In this way, even if the perpetrator of the crime is able to access your bank account, he or she can do no harm to your cash. There are many other ways by means of which you can protect yourself from identity theft of this kind. Most online banking sites provide a virtual keyboard which is a replica of a keyboard’s layout on the screen.
It is used by clicking on the characters with the mouse pointer. The benefit of using this is that you do not have to type out the characters or numbers on the keyboard, hence any keyloggers present in your computer shall not be able to identify and save the characters you have inputted.
One should also ensure that they have proper security software installed on their pc. Also, do not visit an alien site just because it promises some great things.
For further id theft protection, there are services available that will notify you if there is any suspicious activity that affects your credit report or if there is suspected fraud or unauthorized use of your credit cards. These services also act similar to insurance in that any loss you suffer due to stolen identity and fraud will be reimbursed to you by the provider.
Preventing Identity Theft Ensures Peace of Mind
Preventing identity theft, particulary, internet identity theft ensures peace of mind. Nobody would like to see a big zero in their bank account balance or find out that there credit has been ruined. It is a fact that more and more people are being subjected to attacks by persons who have nothing else in their mind apart from targeting your bank balance, using your hard earned money for purchasing things of their choice and leaving your reputation and credit in shambles. You might be wondering if this is actually possible.
Many people do not open their minds to the possibility unless their wallet or credit cards have been lost or stolen. But, in this day and age, your identity is exposed to hackers as well as malicious malware and spyware that finds its way onto your computer. These harmful programs that may be residing on your computer can detect and expose your login and passwords that will lead to your financial and other accounts being compromised.
These certain programs, commonly referred to as keyloggers, can easily note down your keystrokes and send the same to someone else through the internet. It is natural to be concerned. However the good news is that if you spruce up your browsing habits and take an extra bit of care, you can prevent these programs from attacking you.
In preventing identity theft from your PC, you need to know how these sadistic programs enter your PC. Generally when you visit any unauthorized site, especially those that host cracks, keygens, porn and like stuff, the chances are high that they might infect your PC with malwares like the one mentioned above.
The best way to prevent this from happening is by installing security software in your PC and ensuring that it is up to date. You should always make sure that the security software in your PC is configured to auto update itself. Apart from this, you should also take care to update your browser to the latest version. Also, if there are any patches available for either your browser or your security software, download the same and install it. Make sure that the sites from which you are downloading these patches are authorized ones. There are a number of phishing sites that act as security program updates providers.
In fact the data sent by them will actually deactivate your security software. Thankfully, most modern generation programs are capable of updating themselves whenever you are online and some new updates too are available. Do not let sensitive data lie around on your PC. If you do need to keep them, use the services of an encryption program and encrypt the data. This way, it will be useless for anyone else apart from those who have the key to decrypt the data. It goes without saying that you should not store the encryption software’s key in your computer’s hard drive.
For further peace of mind and id theft protection, use a third party service to provide monitoring of activity that affects your credit as well as unauthorized use of your credit cards and social security number. These services act similar to insurance as well as if your identity is compromised, any stolen funds will be reimbursed and you will have help in resolving any identity issues.