A Road Map to Online Protection: Part I
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Just because online risks exist doesn’t mean we should make it easy for criminals and hackers to do their thing. Here’s part one of a check list of things you can do to increase your online defenses:
- Shred any mail you get that can potentially let people get one step closer to stealing your identity (e.g. bank or credit card statements, paid invoices, junk mail from credit card agencies that enclose blank check to entice your sign-up)
- Install AND update (< -- it's very important to update!) antivirus software
- Use caution when receiving e-mail from someone you don’t recognize or from someone purporting to be your bank/credit agency. Are they asking for personal or financial information? Then be doubly sure!
- Use passwords for online accounts that are not easy to figure out. Remember to secure them and change them regularly. (see a previous post about this)
- If you’re unsure about the validity of an e-mail that’s claiming to come from a company, look up their number through means other than the one that might be contained in the e-mail itself and contact them to get confirmation.
We must remain as strong in our defenses as the bad guys are in trying to break them down. Stay tuned for the next post in this two-part series of what you can do to protect yourself online.
Surf safely!
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Comments
If you’re looking for home use I recommend avast! Home Edition. It’s free and does a good job. It can be configured to update automatically.
Another one is AVG Antivirus. I could swear I heard they had a free version, but I can’t seem to find one on their site. It’s possible I overlooked it somewhere.
Hope this helps. 
Can you suggest any free antivirus software apps?