We use the internet for pretty much everything now — which is great!
From grocery shopping, to house hunting, to looking for a new car, as well as banking and buying movie tickets, we do many things online. As long as you take some basic steps to protect your safety, identity, and credit, it’s all good.
Digital Protection
- Use good passwords. Most websites will force you to do so, and many are employing stronger and stronger security measures.
- Set limits on computers at home, so that kids, elders, and less-savvy family members stay within safe bounds. Check out Victory Cybersecurity’s Facebook page for some handy tips. Work computer safety is important, too — be careful about your employees’ activities, permissions, your company firewalls, etc. Having robust internet protection software is a must.
- Don’t click on odd links. If you don’t know where an email is coming from, it’s best not to open it. Some email providers will allow you to preview a message without opening even the email itself. But please please please don’t click on suspicious links.
- Don’t share your personal info unless you’re sure the recipient is truly reliable.
- Look for the lock symbol in your web browser’s URL line to make sure the website has security measures in place.
- Don’t use public computers for anything personal.
- Have great wi-fi security if you use your mobile device on public wi-fi, like at the local coffee shop.
- Follow up if you get notifications of any suspicious activity. Don’t let it go, investigate!
How Would I Know If Something’s Gone Wrong?
- Bills are messed up. You don’t receive one when you normally do, you get a new one, there are charges for things you haven’t purchased, a provider notifies you of a change of address that you didn’t make.
- Your medical reports have strange charges.
- Your credit report is “off”. Work with a financial planner to make sure you’ve got everything rolling the way you want it to.
Stay safe and have fun!
