Some Simple Cyber-security Tips to Protect Your Privacy & Identity

Isn’t privacy a rare commodity nowadays? Especially if we talk about the cyber world. It is a piece of cake to look up anyone from anywhere on the internet. And, in this age, internet usage is excessive. People from all generational groupings are addicted to internet-based forums and modern households have steady subscriptions to digital services and ISPs such as Spectrum Triple Play. It is not possible to avoid using the internet, pertaining to a number of utilities for official, entertainment, and educational purposes. However, privacy and security are genuine concerns. If you look up yourself on sites like Pipl.com, you will be surprised at the huge number of companies, which claim to have your family information, address, income, phone number, and so on.

You should know that your personal information like your email ID, social security number, phone number and other such information is actually worth a lot of money to various legitimate businesses. But, this information is equally important to the bad guys who are into cyber-attacks and stealing.

Let us help you with these simple steps in order to protect the valuable and vulnerable personal information. 

Be Selective about Sharing Social Security Number—Even If It’s the Last Four Digits

Think and rethink your decision to share your security number online with anyone. However, you can trust your bank, credit bureaus, a firm that does the background checks on people, an entity/company that reports to IRS. Not all others should be able to access your information. It’s highly risky if someone gets their hands on your personal information such as address, date of birth, and so on. They can then easily steal your identity and manage to use your credit cards. All this might end up in piling up a huge debt on you.

Be careful about using even the last 4 digits of the social security number. Institutions and banks use these four digits usually in order to reset your passwords for accessing your account. Also, if someone gets hold of the last 4 digits and knows your birthplace, it becomes a lot easy to guess your entire number. Let us tell you how. The first three digits are essentially determined by the place where you/your parents applied for the SSN. The next two digits belong to the group number that’s given out at the same time to a particular group in a geographical area. Trust us, a determined, seasoned identity thief wouldn’t find hacking it much difficult. 

You Don’t Need to Fill Out the Social Media Profiles

You can still do your endless social media browsing and have a valid profile even if you don’t fill out the whole forms required to make a social media profile. The more information you choose to share online, especially on social networking sites, the easier it is for someone to get hold of it. Stop cooperating with them. It’s best to keep your social media profiles barren. Most of your friends and family on social media already know your email address, birth date, phone number and so on. If you are really concerned about your privacy, you wouldn’t share all of it on your Facebook profile. 

Use Private Browsing

If you use a computer that has multiple users and you don’t want them to access your online information then you should consider enabling private browsing mode. This feature is available in every major web browser out there. So, whether you are a Safari fan or a Chrome addict, you will find incognito and private browsing modes in them. this mode deletes temporary internet files, cookies, and your browsing history right after you close a window.

Also, in this age of algorithms, every company out there which is into online marketing keeps an eye on social media. They are interested to know the sort of sites you visit, your shopping likes, and even your common interests with your friends. They are all about having an insight into your likes and dislikes. When they manage to gather all this information, they want to tempt you into buying something from them and serve you with targeted ads.

For instance, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ tabs, which you see on every site, allow the networks to easily track you. They will still track you even if you are not logged into them and don’t have an account at all. Also, there are information collecting firms, which rely on the embedded codes in the banner ads. These ads track your preferences, visits, and demographic information.

If you are someone who is actually concerned about his privacy, then you will ensure that you browse the internet anonymously and hide your IP address. You need a web proxy, a VPN or Tor, an open network that functions by routing the traffic via a series of servers, which are operated by a good number of volunteers. 

Consider Using an Efficient Password Vault Enabled to Generate and Remember Unique and Strong Passwords

Most people are habitual of creating the same password for every account that they make. They think that it’s easy to remember and end up having the same password for a dozen various accounts. If someone gets their hands on your password (through a phishing attack perhaps), they will end up having all your accounts in his access.

Internet service providers also enlighten their users about the basics of cybersecurity. I got in touch with Spectrum customer care and the representative shared some valuable and relevant information about cyber-security hazards and ways to protect my privacy. Now I know better to make online purchases from any random site!