Private WiFi will keep you safe on public wireless: IWYS, Sarah

Anything you send or receive in open, public hotspots like hotels, airports, coffee shops, and parks can be intercepted. Your passwords, pictures, private data, and personal stuff are all vulnerable. Your identity can literally be stolen out of the thin air. Firewalls or Antivirus software can’t stop it, but PRIVATE WiFi can. PRIVATE WiFi encrypts everything you send and receive, so no one else sees anything. It’s a layer of privacy and anonymity that no other technology can provide.

The online platform is full of preying eyes and fraudsters who are always looking for any possible means to get your private details.  Some of the most sought after details are personal and financial details. With identity theft becoming a major threat to many people, there is a need to educate internet users on how to protect their privacy online. Discussed below are a few tips on how to protect yourself from online identity theft.

Most criminals prey over people’s profiles especially on their social networking sites. Due to this reason, always limit profile visibility to friends only.  This will limit your profile visibility to friends only, meaning no one who is not in the list will be able to see your personal details. In addition to this, you should limit access to your contact details to yourself. Anyone who needs such should ask you for it.

Some fraudsters use cookies in their websites to collect private information from audiences who log into their pages. To protect yourself from this, only log in to websites you are accustomed and aware off, and never log into a suspicious website.  Other people use phishing and malwares to collect private information. These can as well be blocked by using a strong firewall or even having a reliable antivirus that monitors your web activity. Many antivirus programs can help protect you from these rogue programs, as well as advise you on products that could expose your identity.

Another way of protecting your identity online is by using a proxy server or even better a virtual private network (VPN) server.  There are even programs that can help hide your public IP address, meaning fraudsters will find it very hard to track you down. Some of these programs can be found for free, but often provide low quality and sporadic services.  Of course you find quality VPN and proxy services for a small monthly fee.  Investing in such programs can help protect your identity online and stay safe from malicious people, and are well worth the cost.

These are just but few of the many ways one can use to keep his/her online identity private. Always be choosy about who you give your contact details to, as well as who befriends you on social networking sites.