The recent breach suffered by Sony’s Playstation users has the majority of people questioning just how secure their online identities are. If your personal information falls into the hands of the wrong person, the results can be grave. Thankfully, there are many simple steps you can take to protect against that.
Use an encrypted connection
Using an encrypted connection is an unbelievably simple way to achieve greater online safety. Many websites, including most social networking sites, have recently adopted more secure connections, although you sometimes need to change the settings to get the extra level of security.
You can determine whether or not you have encrypted access simply by checking the URL. If the URL begins with “https” instead of “http” you have an encrypted connection. Unfortunately, some sites do not offer encrypted access so this is not always an option.
Use strong passwords
Strong passwords are always one of the best ways to keep your information protected. By using spaces, symbols, numbers and a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, one can easily attain a strong password. Even if you don’t use all of these tips, be sure to use something that can’t be easily guessed by hackers.
Also, be sure to use a unique password for each site. If one site is hacked into, your password to that site may become vulnerable. Having the same password for multiple other sites will make the information stored on those sites vulnerable as well.
Look out for phishing
Phishing is basically when a hacker poses as a respected company, like a bank, in order to attain sensitive information from people. It is fairly common due to its relative ease, since all the hackers need is your name and email address.
The recent data breach suffered by Epsilon is a perfect example of how phishing can occur. The people that hacked Epsilon’s network immediately gained access to thousands of email addresses and therefore had the opportunity to get sensitive, personal information from people.
All of these tips are incredibly easy to follow and can make a huge difference when it comes to online security. If you’d like to learn more about protecting your online identity, take a look at this article.
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