Staying Safe with Online Accounts
Understanding how to keep yourself as safe as possible when using online services is essential. Almost all successful account breaches are the result of mistakes made at some point by the victim. It can take decades for a supercomputer to break a good password; it can take a few minutes for a hacker to break into a poorly secured account with a weak password like “12345.” The following tips are best practices you should always follow.
- Use a strong and unique password. Watch the video below to learn how to create passwords and passphrases that keep you safe.
- Set up multi-factor (2-factor) authentication. There is no better way to secure your account and data. Multi-factor authentication practically eliminates user-side hacking!
- Read privacy statements before using websites to be sure they will keep your data private. But remember, once you give your information to a company they can change their policies or be hacked themselves. Billions of users have had some part of their online data exposed because of database hacks.
- Remember that the Internet is not private. Never post anything that you wouldn’t post on a public bulletin board.
- Think before you post photos or personal data online. Is it appropriate? Does it reveal too much private information? Remember that it is nearly impossible to remove data from the internet completely.
- Never share financial information over the Internet, especially personal information like your social security number, bank account information, or PIN numbers. If someone asks you for this information online or via email, it’s a scam—report it to your financial institution.
- Never conduct financial transactions with people you have only met online. Never agree to cash checks or wire money as a favor or for a cut of the money. A common scam is to befriend someone and then ask for money because of some phony health, family, or travel emergency.
- Be careful about what personal information you share when creating an online profile or talking with people you have only met online. A certain amount of anonymity will help to keep you safe.
- Completely log out of websites if using a shared or public computer.
- Trust your gut. If you ever feel uncomfortable or suspicious about an online message, don’t respond to it. Consider blocking the user and reporting the situation to the website.
- Be careful with online games that ask personal questions.
There is an important concept to understand about accounts you create with companies and services online. They sometimes have End User License Agreements (EULA) and privacy policies that run into thousands of words. The average user can’t read and understand them completely. More than that, companies can and do change their policies at will. Users seldom, if ever, have any say in the changes; your only recourse may be to delete your account. You also have no say over how they secure any information you share with them. Millions of email addresses and other Personally Identifiable Information (PII) have been hacked and released to online hacking groups after large-scale hacking attacks. Strong passwords, unique passwords to each account, and 2-factor authentication are the best ways to protect yourself!
To learn more about protecting yourself from internet scams and identity theft, take our comprehensive Guide to Internet Safety course.
Another great resource is the Federal Trade Commission website https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0038- onguardonline.