Safer Internet Day: Practice Safe Online Habits

By | February 7th, 2013|Uncategorized|

computer_loginThis Tuesday was Safer Internet Day – a day dedicated to honoring safe Internet habits. In the past year, we’ve seen our fair share of data breaches in the news, so it’s important to be aware of your online habits, and what you’re doing to protect yourself and your business.

So what better way to honor this day then to hear from us – the experts in global identity fraud protection – on our tried and true methods for protecting yourself online.

Break poor password habits
Are you guilty of using the same password across multiple sites? Break the habit now. An email or password compromised from one company’s data breach can open up vulnerabilities across a multitude of completely unrelated websites such as banking, financial, online retailers and the like. Creating a strong, alphanumeric password will help reduce the risk of a company data breach. And remember to change your passwords frequently.

Keep your devices clean
It may seem obvious, but many forget to keep the software up-to-date on their laptops, smart phones and tablets, and out-of-date software can increase security risks for these devices. You keep your car engine clean, so why wouldn’t you keep your mobile devices clean? Set up automatic updates, if applicable.

Don’t click that link
Be wary of clicking links on unsecured or unknown websites that can be malicious, or through email phishing scams – where you receive an email from what appears to be a legitimate merchant, but is, in fact, misspelled or “too good to be true.” Hackers are also able to embed malicious links or ads into legitimate sites (drive-by malware), so always make transactions across secure web pages where the link uses an HTTPS address.

Surf Wi-Fi safely
Traveling for business and need to access a Wi-Fi hotspot? Think again. Airport Wi-Fi is a goldmine for cybercriminals. Never send classified documents or valuable information across a public Wi-Fi network. Try a using a virtual private network (VPN) if it is a must.

What’s your number one tip for securing yourself on the Internet? Have any more tips you’d like to share? Feel free to tell us below in the comments section or on Twitter and Facebook.

COPPA Amendment Increases Protection for Kids

By | January 24th, 2013|Uncategorized|

Students onlineRecently the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published an amendment to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), an important development in protecting children’s privacy online.  Most notably, the FTC updated the definition of “personal information” to include IP and location information. What this means – parents now have greater control over what information can be collected about their children from the apps, websites and devices that their children use.

IP addresses, a series of numbers associated with a device, can provide a wealth of information about an individual’s online activities that can be used to help advertisers target that individual, collected largely without the individual’s knowledge. Through the COPPA amendment, advertisers may not gather information about a child’s Internet and device usage without a parent’s consent.

The new COPPA definitions are also the first time geo-location data has been designated as protected information. Devices equipped with GPS (including popular iOS and Android devices) register their location several times a minute, a feature that cannot be turned off while the device is receiving a wireless signal. As children become owners and users of devices, this information can leave a trail of information about them without their, or their parent’s, knowledge. With the new geo-location limitations, businesses can no longer gather information precise enough to identify a child’s home address, street or city.

What are your thoughts on these revisions to COPPA? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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