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12 Resolutions That Could Save Your Identity in 2016
Tips for adopting a best-practices approach to data security.
— -- Another New Year is upon us. Bring on another raft of resolutions I say! I mean, what would a New Year be in the absence of resolutions? As Aldous Huxley wrote in Time Must Have a Stop, “Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too.” This year, I am advocating something simple: It’s high time we (as in all of us – business, government and consumers) stop making it so easy for scammers, phishers and identity thieves.
The best intentions can’t really stop these guys, but adopting a best-practices approach to data security can make your online world more secure. Here are some of the things you can do in 2016 to help avoid the living hell of identity theft and other identity-related crimes.
1. Change Is Healthy, Especially When We Are Talking Passwords.
A growing consensus in the data security community is that passwords will be a thing of the past in the next decade or so, with new forms of authentication being developed and becoming main stream. But until that joyous day, please change your passwords regularly: Once a month at the minimum. Make them long and strong, develop your own system (perhaps using a favorite phrase at the core) or use a password manager!
2. Change Your User Names
Too many sites still allow (or require) you to use your email address as your user name. The problem with this is that the (arguably) most public piece of your personally identifiable information is, by very definition, not the most secure way to confirm to a site that you are the right person to gain access to your sensitive information. By using your email address (or name) as your user ID, you’re giving the bad guys one half of the front door key. Consider using a complex user name as part of your security protocol.
3. Tighten Your Privacy Settings
If you haven’t revisited your social media privacy settings in a while, you may be surprised how much has changed. Did you realize you were sharing your love of Michael Bublé, profile pictures and birthdate with anyone and everyone? You can change that, and you definitely should.
Check (and tighten at every opportunity) your privacy settings on every site you use! Make sure only trusted contacts can see your posts.
4. Purge Your "Friends"
Having a ton of friends is one indication that you might be an awesome individual, but for those who believe more is better consider the possibility that someone you don’t know might be looking at you as their day job. Since most of us don’t (or at least shouldn’t) invite strangers to stay in our homes, why would we friend them online? (And yes, as I detail in my book, Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World of Scammers, Phishers and Identity Thieves, it can amount to the same thing when a skilled fraudster gets access to personal details about you.)
5. Tell a Few Lies
One way to throw a would-be scammer off the trail of your personally identifiable information is to be less than truthful. Here’s where you can truly benefit by making yourself seem younger or using any of the many things people lie about: Change your birthday, your hometown, schools attended, etc.
6. Check Your Bank and Credit Accounts Daily
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