Your personal information is valuable. Protect it!

We use the Internet more than ever – to conduct business, connect with our family and friends, shop and manage our finances – so it’s important be savvy about safety online.

These ten tips help you protect your personal information, secure your computer and minimize your chance of Internet fraud.

1. Use anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software—and make sure it’s up-to-date.
2. Read privacy policies to learn how your information will be used and protected.
3. Configure your browser or operating system to manage pop-ups, cookies or block specific Web sites.
4. Use more than one email address so that one is reserved solely for your personal communication.
5. Look for third-party seals or certification to identify trustworthy companies.
6. Back up important files.
7. Provide email addresses and information that do not identify you personally on Web sites you don’t know or trust.
8. Change passwords on a regular basis.
9. Use email encryption.
10. Log-in anonymously or use anonymizing or free ID Web sites to generate your ID.

1. Use anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software—and make sure it’s up-to-date.

Anti-virus software protects your computer from viruses that can destroy your data, slow your computer’s performance, cause it to crash or allow fraudsters to access or control your machine. You can download anti-virus software on the Internet or buy it in retail stores. Look for anti-virus software that updates automatically to detect new viruses, as well as older ones.

Spyware is a software program may be installed on your computer without your consent to monitor your behavior online, record your keystrokes, send pop-up ads or redirect your computer to certain Web sites. Anti-spyware software can remove or disable existing spyware on your computer and prevent its installation without your consent.

Firewalls help keep hackers from using your computer to send out your personal information without your permission. A firewall monitors for outside attempts to access your computer and blocks communications to and from sources you don’t authorize. Check to make sure your operating system includes a firewall. If it doesn’t, several free firewall software programs are available on the Internet. You can also install a hardware firewall – an external device that includes firewall software.

To be effective against new threats, make sure your software is up-to-date. Visit Download.com or Onguard Online for a list of anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall tools.

2. Read privacy policies.

When visiting a Web site for the first time, always check to make sure the site has a posted privacy policy—and read it. It should explain how your personal information will be collected, as well as how it will be used or shared with other parties. Privacy policies should tell you what security measures the company will take to protect your information and whether you can request to see the personal information the Web site has collected about you. If a Web site doesn’t have a privacy policy, consider doing business elsewhere.

3. Configure your browser or operating system to manage pop-ups, cookies or block specific Web sites.

Pop Ups

There are primarily two kinds of pop-ups: 1) pop-ups initiated at the behest of, and advertising for, the site you are then visiting, and 2) pop-ups created by software (adware or spyware) which is external to or additional to your browser software. Today’s major browsers generally offer built in tools to prevent the first type of pop-ups. Pop-ups created by spyware or adware can best be managed through use of anti-spyware software or removal of the offending adware.

Cookies or “Persistent Cookies”

Cookies are small (usually less than 4k in size) text files that, in accordance with user preferences, are placed by a web browser on a computer when it visits a website. The web domain that issues (“serves”) a cookie is the only server to which that particular cookie will be sent by the browser. That server sets the information that the cookie contains so that when a user returns to that website, the browser may resend the cookie information to the website. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to a computer.

The major browser platforms all offer advanced cookie management tools. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6&7 both use P3P (Platform for Privacy Preferences) to enable machine readable privacy statements made by cookie issuers to make management decisions about cookies. Firefox, Netscape and Safari browsers also provide cookie management options, allowing for acceptance or rejection of cookies based upon 1st or 3rd party context and/or particular domain of the issuer.

You should also review the privacy policies of the Web sites you visit.

Blocking of Specific Web sites

Today’s major browsers also offer tools such as anti-phishing or “zones” to categorize or restrict access to specific web sites. Additional commercial software such as anti-phishing software or parental control software can further limit the browsers access to objectionable or harmful sites.

4. Use more than one email address so that one is reserved solely for your personal communication.

Keep the inbox you use to communicate with friends and family free of spam by using a separate email address when you shop or conduct other transactions online.

5. Look for third-party seals or certification—and make sure the seals are valid.

Confused about who to trust online? Third-party seals and certification—such as the TRUSTe seal—indicate an organization is committed to your safety online. Companies that display seals on their Web sites have been certified by third-party experts as adopting security or privacy practices that help keep you safe and informed online. Learn more about different seals and what they mean on the Web.

And, don’t forget to make sure any seals displayed on a Web site are valid. All of the major authentication seals, regardless of type, offer a link to a page on the seal provider’s site. If the retailer claims to have earned a seal, but that seal is not connected back to the appropriate seal provider’s site, move on -- even if you can’t beat the price. Learn more about how to avoid fake seals.

6. Back up important files.

Taking these recommended steps will help ensure your personal information is protected online, yet no system is completely secure. Copy important computer files onto a removable disc, and store them in a safe place.

7. Provide email addresses and information that do not identify you personally.

If you’re asked for personal information, always find out how it will be used and how it will be protected before you share it. Feel free to omit personal information that is not required for the transaction. If you don’t feel comfortable that you know or trust the Web site to keep your information secure, you may consider providing an email address or information that doesn’t reveal your identity.

8. Change passwords on a regular basis.

Your passwords are vital in protecting your personal information and transactions online. Change your passwords at least every 90 days to reduce the chance that a computer criminal can gain access to your computer or online accounts.

9. Use email encryption.

Encryption prevents information you send across the Internet from being intercepted or tampered with. Check with your email service provider to make sure your messages are encrypted. When providing personal information through a Web site, make sure the transaction is secured with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. Look for the padlock symbol in the status bar at the bottom of your browser – it lets you know you are using encryption.

10. Log-in anonymously or use anonymizing or free ID Web sites to generate your ID.

Anonymizing services and free ID Web sites are resources that allow you to reduce the amount of personal information accessible to others online.

Anonymizing services hide your Internet address and location from the Web sites you visit using a proxy Web server. Free ID Web sites offer general user IDs and passwords for use with free, password-protected Web sites. These sites allow you to search for the Web site you’d like to log on to anonymously. If a previous user has stored an ID on the site, you can use this ID to log-in without providing your own personal information. Popular anonymizing service Web sites include Anonymizer.com and Kaxy.com. A full list of sites can be found on http://www.freeproxy.ru/en/free_proxy/cgi-proxy.htm.

Exercise Your Right to Privacy