Tips for Protecting Your Identity Online

1. Decide how much information to reveal about yourself.  Joining social networking web sites and signing up for online services usually requires providing personal information; decide before using those services how much of your personal information you are going to share.  Information such as social security and credit card numbers, date of birth, and your home address and telephone number should not be given to any site unless you absolutely trust them to only use it for good.  Also, don’t share information about others unless you are absolutely certain that it’s true and you are absolutely certain it will not harm them.
2. Use secured and up-to-date software.  Many software programs are not secure if they are not updated often.  For example, Windows vulnerabilities and threats are discovered very often, and if it is not updated frequently it can become insecure.  Updating your software is the best way to make sure the software you use has the best protection against known security problems.
3. Install and use a third-party firewall and anti-virus program.  Firewall and anti-virus programs help prevent general problems from damaging the normal functioning of your computer and may even help prevent data loss.  Like all software, don’t forget to update it frequently.
4. Learn more about safer computing.  Learn how to identify web sites with secure protocols and certificates.  Learn about digital signatures and email encryption.  Learn about which web sites are safe places to download software.  Learn about prevention of junk email (spam).  There is always more to learn.
5. Guard and monitor your identity periodically.  You can perform a Google search for yourself or any aspect of your identity.  Learn how to set a Google Alert about your search.  Monitor your credit report for legitimate and suspect activities; the earlier you know, the sooner you can act.