Online Security Tips & Tools
Before submitting personal information on a website, look for the yellow padlock secure symbol on the bottom of your browser window to ensure you are in secure mode.
Example shown here:
Be aware of scam emails, even if the sender email address looks legit. Online financial institutions will never email you asking for your credit card information, your driver’s license number, your password or any other personal information. These emails may even provide a website link to visit to submit your information. Do not click these, but rather visit the site by typing in your bank’s website address yourself or by using your bookmarks. The scam emails sometimes provide convincing website addresses that look very similar to the legitimate address.
For example when comparing:
http://www.banknumber1.com to
http://www.banknumberl.com
These look very similar. However the first site is banknumber1 (with the number 1 in the address) rather than banknumberl (with the letter l in the address). Fake sites can be set up to harvest your passwords and personal information.
Keep your computer up-to-date by regularly updating the security patches made available by your software vendors.
Firewalls: Reduce the risk of being hacked by using a firewall. Here are three free ones you can try (one will do):
Anti-Virus: Also keep your computer protected against viruses. Here are three free software programs for you to try, pick one that works best for you:
Passwords: Never use the same passwords, always use a different password for each site. Don’t use passwords that are easy to guess and use a variety of letters (both capital & small letters), numbers and symbols. Example Password: vCuiKQ$6&%3P
Keep your passwords tucked away in an encrypted password keeper, three free ones to try are here:
More information regarding online safety:
Also be aware of email phishing. You can read these excellent resource articles here:
How To Avoid Getting Hooked By Pfishing
Are Cyber-Criminals “Phishing” Your Identity From Your Computer?