With every passing day, identity thieves are getting smarter and more creative when it comes to hacking your personal information. From changing your passwords to on-site hard drive destruction in NJ, you can be proactive in protecting yourself online. Taking steps to protect important account and personal information is crucial to the safety of you and your family. Not sure where to start? Consider taking these top three steps to ensure that your identity is secure this summer.
Destroy important data
One of the best steps you can take to ensure that your identity is not being targeted is to destroy information that is no longer needed or vital. Investing in a shredder can help you safely dispose of old bills, credit card statements or pay-stubs, and companies providing on-site hard drive destruction in PA can make sure that your information can never be found by thieves.
Switch up your passwords
Many of us make the mistake of using the same password for everything; even worse, once we’ve created our passwords, we don’t like to change them. This makes it much easier for hackers and identity thieves to get into our accounts and steal our important data and even our financial information. Consider making your passwords more secure by utilizing a combination of numbers, letters, capitalization and other allowed symbols, and by changing your passwords every four to six months.
Watch out for common scams
Identity thieves commonly put out scams to lure you into sharing things like your social security number or banking information via email. Never respond to unsolicited requests for any of your passwords or personal information, as these are illegitimate requests almost 100% of the time. If one of your accounts is compromised, companies will contact you directly via phone; they will never ask for your information over email.
If you wish to learn more about how you can protect your identity, we encourage you to reach out to our friendly staff here at Keystone Technology Management by calling 800-419-7176 or filling out a contact form on our website.