Protecting Yourself When You Shop Online

Internet Security- Protecting Yourself When You Shop Online

The internet can be a great place to go shopping! You can do it right from your home with little

to effort. However, there are horror stories from people who have had their credit card and even

entire identities stolen. So what can you do to protect yourself from this happening to you?

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eep in mind that a lot of credit card companies have provisions for challenging

fraudulent charges. If you see something that doesn't look right on your bill, give them a call.

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lso, print out a copy of every receipt of what you buy.

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Only shop at sites that contain a physical address and a telephone number. If you feel

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leery about them, either trust your gut or give them a call or email. See how quickly they

return your message. If you call them, don't just talk to a machine, talk to a person.

Remember who you spoke to. Ordering from a trusted site might be better than one you

ave never heard of. For example,. Ordering straight from Old Navy is probably more

secure than ordering from a random woman online who sells Old Navy.

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on't ever provide personal or unnecessary information like your social security

number or checking account information in order to process credit card transactions. All they

need to know is your billing address, telephone number, credit card number and type of credit

car, and the security number on the back. Never give out your social security number. It is not

necessary.

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ook for sellers who have secure servers. Some companies that are considered safe

are Equifax, SecureSite eBusiness, Thwate, and Verisign. The encryption technology is always

changing and while it already makes shopping pretty safe, it keeps adding additional features

for the security and protection of shoppers like yourself. There should be a little emblem in the

bottom right hand corner of protected sites to watch for.

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When you are on a secure page, right click with your mouse on any blank space and

you should get the options box. Scroll to the bottom of the box and click on “Properties.” A table

that is the security certificate should appear. You can check this out to help put yourself at east.

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If it give you an option to store any information, just say no. If you return, you can enter it

all again.

Internet Security- Make Sure Your Passwords Protect You

In this day and age, protecting our internet security is very important. We store important

information on the internet such as our personal information as well as out financial

information. Identities are stolen everyday and getting yours back and clearing up the damage

that it can cause is expensive and time-consuming.

One of the most important things you can do is to protect the passwords that you use for

your various accounts. Why is this important? Because if someone gets a hold of your

password, they can have all sorts of information about you.

Most people use their same password, or a variation of it, for all of their accounts. Needless to

say, this is not a good idea. After all, if someone gets that password they can tap into almost

any internet account you have and thus breech your internet security.

So what can you do?

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irst, don't use your same password for everything! And adding “1” after the password

in instances when you need a number does not make the password different.

Secondly, don't store your password on your computer. Yes, it can be a pain to type it in

every time, but if someone broke into your house they would be privy to all of your accounts.

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lso, don't store your passwords on a notepad right there by your computer, or in a document

on your computer called “internet passwords.” They should be a little harder to locate than that.

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You can also use Microsoft's Password Strength Tester. This program lets you enter in a

password to see what its strength is. If you give it something that doesn't test very strongly

then you need to change it in order to make it more secure.

One thing that you can do is to make your password a combination of letters and numbers.

This is more difficult to figure out. Also, don't ever use your social security number, driver

license number, or zip code. You shouldn't be storing your social security number on the

internet to begin with like that and your zip code is too easy to figure out.

In addition, don't use your child's name, your partner's name, or your own name as a

password. Again, these are quite simple to figure out.

By following these tips when it comes to your password, you should be able to strengthen your

internet security. While it is a hassle to come up with several different passwords and to

remember them, it is more of a hassle to straighten out the mess that can result from not doing

it.

Make Sure Your Emails Are Safe: Tips for Internet Security

The last thing you want to do is to have an unwanted e-mail wreck havoc on your computer.

However, this happens everyday. At the best, it can make your computer run slower. At the

worst, your personal and financial information can be stolen, or your entire computer can

crash and everything could get lost due to a virus.

The following article includes some tips for internet security when it comes to your e-mail.

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on't open attachments from people you don't know. This should go without saying.

However, people do it all the time. Usually, the subject lines of these unwanted e-mails either

make it look as though they are sending you something that you requested

(“here's the information you asked for”) or they make it appear as if they know you

(“Hey, it's me, John”). However, if you weren't expecting any email with an attachment

and you don't recognize the sender's address don't open it. It could contain a virus.

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on't give out any information. On the other hand, sometimes your internet security can be

threatened from senders who pretend to know you and try to get you to give them information. For

instance, if you are applying for jobs on various search sites, someone might contact you and say

that they found your resume. They could then send you to another site and ask for your personal

information, like your social security number, by pretending to have you fill out an application.

Unless you are applying for a state or government job, or have already been through the interview

process and they need to run a background check on you, you should never give out your social

security number.

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on't use the same passwords. Never use the same passwords for your email account

as you do for your expedia account, online banking account , or any other website that stores

financial information. It is fairly easy to figure out email passwords and once a hacker has it,

they can get into your other accounts as well and your information can be used.

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Change your passwords. Also, remember to change your passwords from time to time. Try

including numbers, as well as letters, in your passwords. It makes it harder to figure

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them out.

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on't let other people access your email account. Never give someone else your

password when it comes to your email accounts. It's difficult enough for you to keep tabs on

your internet security, much less trusting other people to keep it safe.