Be safe – Protect your identity

Remember that crooks don’t need
your card to help run up your bill… just the card number and expiry
date. Keep safe. Also, think about the following:

• Consider cancelling unused
  credit & store cards. Less to worry about being stolen and keeping
  track of, and less paper statements.
• Consider getting a credit
  card that uses the new Chip and PIN technology recently introduced in the UK – using a PIN for
  in-store transactions is much safer than a signature
• When using your card, don’t
  let the card out of your sight if at all possible – this helps protect
  your card against being ‘skimmed’ – card details, expiry date and
  security number being copied.

Consider
a document shredder. Think of how many bank statements, bills and
credit card slips you chuck in the bin, and how they could be used as
proof of identity.

Argos
stock five shredders, with prices from £17.99 to £62.99 (including Fellowes Shredders),
the main difference being the size of the bin (between 12 and 25 litre
capacity). Better still, check out the range of Shredders from Euroffice

Getting a mains-powered paper shredder for home is affordable, and could
save you a lot of hassle.

Common
sense applies here:

• Don’t
  use the same PIN for all your cards
• Don’t
  write PINs down, or tell them to anyone
• Be cautious
  when entering a PIN – who’s watching over your shoulder?

• Consider
  going ex-directory. Contact BT
• Consider
  getting a SkypeIn number from www.skype.com for a small one-off fee, to protect your main home number,
  and to screen unwanted calls – Calls get diverted to your PC or to voicemail.
• Register
  with the Telephone Preference
  Service. Helps to reduce unwanted marketing calls and junk text
  messages. Online registration only takes a minute, and is free.

The
big one here is the Electoral Roll (controlled by your local
council). First off, go to www.192.com,
create yourself a free account, then try searching for yourself. You
may find that your name, address and number are listed on this site
either as a result of the electoral roll, or from a phone book entry.
As well as being searchable online, the information on 192.com is available
to anyone on a CD.

If you want to be removed, follow the link to ‘Privacy policy’ and print
out their Record Correction form.
When completing the annual electoral roll form, make sure you elect
not to have your details made publicly available. More at www.192.com

Imagine
if your computer were to be stolen – letters, bank details, personal
information, address book and calendar. How much data would you lose?

• Take
  a backup, and keep it away from your computer
• Password
  protect your machine if possible, and password-protect sensitive data
• Get
  yourself a good virus checker and make sure it’s up-to-date. We recommend
  Norton
  Internet Security, which contains AntiVirus, Anti-spam and
  a Firewall for maximum protection. Available from Amazon
  or Dabs.com

• Take care with emails that
  claim to be from your bank, or from the likes of Ebay
  or PayPal. There’s been
  much in the news recently on what’s known as ‘phishing’ – fake emails
  and websites so realistic-looking, that people freely enter personal
  details. One thing you can do to protect yourself is to cut down on
  the amount of spam you get – consider getting Cloudmark, an excellent anti-spam solution
• Most
  viruses are delivered by email, and if you’re not protected, you can
  spread the virus to your friends via your address book, and open your
  computer to hackers. Get yourself a good virus checker and make sure
  it’s up-to-date. We recommend Norton
  Internet Security from Amazon
  or Dabs.com

When
your computer connects to the Internet, you open yourself to attack,
either by email viruses, downloaded files containing a malicious program,
or take-over attempts by other computers. This is especially dangerous
for Broadband
users who have an always-on connection.

Get yourself a good security application,
and make sure you keep it up-to-date. We recommend Norton
Internet Security, which contains an AntiVirus program (for
files and emails), an anti-spam tool, and a Firewall to stop unwanted
instructions. The program should be configured for automatic update,
to download the latest virus definitions as soon as possible. Norton
is available from Amazon
or Dabs.com.

Test
your security now: Try the Symantec
Security Check

Amazingly,
many of us have personal information that’s used by banks, sitting on
public web pages…

• Registered
  with Friends Reunited? You could have made it easy for someone
  to find out your school, place-of-birth and birth year, plus other
  personal information. Check your listing now at www.friendsreunited.co.uk,
  and any other similar sites you’re registered with
• Family
  tree? Are you, or anyone you know, working on your family tree?
  If so, your place of birth and mother’s maiden name may be ‘out there’
• Try separate websearches using
  www.google.com for the following,
  and see what’s already out there:
  • Your
    name
  • Your home and mobile phone numbers
  • Your email address
  • Your postcode

• One
  password? One of the worst things you can do, is have a single password
  for all of the Internet sites you’re registered with. While banks
  have very strong security in place, are you sure that the small sites
  you visit are storing your details safely and securely?
• Make
  sure your passwords can’t be guessed.

If you run a UK website, your
details can be publicly available. UK domains are controlled by Nominet.
Go to their site and perform a WHOIS search for your domain to see what’s
on file under ‘Registrant’ for your site.

If there’s
something there that shouldn’t be – contact your ISP / hosting company
and tell them that you want to opt-out. They’ll arrange to update the
domain name record held by Nominet on your behalf.