Keeping Your Personal Information Safe

                                                 DID YOU KNOW???
Did you know that, according to the Bureau of Justice 2014 statistics, 17.6 million U.S. residents were the victim of at least one incident of identity theft?!? How does that even happen? 
Here's How:

According to an article written by Mike Freeman for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Microsoft reported that a whopping estimate of  25% of personal computers are operated without form of updated virus protection on them. According to the article, these machines are about 6 times more likely to be infected with malware, which could be used by hackers to commit identity theft.
It may seem like common sense but, by looking at some of the stats that are available online, people just aren't doing some of the common sense things to protect their systems that house all of their important stuff like tax information, banking information (credit card and account numbers and passwords), and other sensitive data.

So...What are some of those common sense ways that someone can protect their computer?

1) Antivirus Software

If it is true that almost a quarter of all computers in use over the Internet are not protected by some form of antivirus software, it would stand to reason that by purchasing said software, it would go a long way in the protection of user’s personal and sensitive information. Antivirus software suites such as McAfee, Kaspersky, Norton, and Symantec are designed to scan through a user’s files and directories in search of malware. Once detected, the software is designed to remove the bad code. Sometimes the software will alert the user and ask for permission while other times once the scan is started, anything found is removed. 

2) Firewalls

Firewalls are another form of software protection that are designed to protect a computer system or network by screening and blocking hackers with their malicious software from getting unauthorized entry in while allowing for the user to be able to exchange information with sites that do not pose a threat. There are two types of firewalls protection, hardware and software. Hardware Firewalls are the routers used in most small office and home network systems. If a user has more than one computer or device such as a tablet or smartphone that they use in their home they should ensure that they have a router set up to protect each of the computers and devices from potentially damaging incoming network traffic since the router wouldn’t know which device on the network to send the traffic to. The router blocks the traffic ensuing that each of the computers and devices stays safe. Without the router, all of the computers on the network would be vulnerable to Trojan horses and other malware that have come in and are now located on the network.
Software firewalls, like antivirus software, are directly installed on the user’s computer. These firewalls can be set up and customized to allow the user to control the level of protection that the software will provide. Like the routers, software firewalls protect the user’s computer and devices from outside attempts to gain access or control of the system by blocking it from entering into the system or it can also block malicious code from trying to send data outside of the system as well as would be the case with malware.

3) Encryption

Encryption is one option for keeping information safe. Encryption uses computer algorithms to jumble up messages into something unable to be understood and only decrypted or deciphered for the intended reader. 

There are two types of encryption: Public key (asymmetric) encryption and Private key (symmetric) encryption

In public key encryption, a user could encrypt a message document and send it off to another user using his public key. Once the message got to the intended user, they could open and decipher it using a matching private key. However, if the user only has a public key he could not decrypt a return message using that key, he would need a private key.

Meanwhile, in private key (symmetrical) encryption, both the user and the recipient of his message could encrypt and send messages as well as receive and encrypt messages using the keys that they have, public and private respectively.

4) Biometrics

Another measure that users can take to ensure the safety of their data is biometric security. Once thought of as futuristic, biometric authentication uses measurements of a user’s body parts such as the iris of his eye, facial recognition, or fingerprints to allow access to sensitive or secret information or areas.  Today, many commercially available devices use biometrics to protect the information stored on it. Apple started using biometrics back in 2013 with a fingerprint sensor located on their home button. Since that time, many other products have come out using that same technology as a form of protection

5) Passwords

For something that should be so easy, passwords are the thing that most of us get wrong. Some general rules of thumb for passwords are that they should never be so simple that a stranger could guess but should be something that the user will be able to remember. Information such as the users birthday or variations of their name should never be used to create a password. 

Although it seems like once you create a good strong password you want to use it for every site you visit, that would also be a (VERY) bad idea. You should ensure that you make different passwords for the site you visit, keep them private and protected, and change them often.

Although it seems like a lot of work for users to keep their systems protected, it is a lot less work than it would be to try to recover your finances and sense of security if someone where to compromise your identity.

I'm Shereeta Maxey Young, a retired Army veteran who is now a retail data collector and college student at American Military University. I am currently working towards my BS in IT Management and is only a few short semesters away from completion!