Is Your Confidential Data Safe?

To be sure, the encryptions protecting your bank accounts and online transactions are extremely hard to crack. Yet, much also depends on you. The Bible says: “Shrewd is the one that has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself, but the inexperienced have passed along and must suffer the penalty.” (Proverbs 22:3) So be shrewd and “conceal” yourself, as it were, from fraud and theft by doing at least the following:
▪ Use antivirus software on your computer.
▪ Employ a spyware-detection program.
▪ Install a firewall.
▪ Keep all of the above continually updated, and install security updates for your applications and operating system.
▪ Beware of links or attachments in e-mail or instant messages, especially if the mail is unsolicited and asks for personal information or for verification of a password.
▪ When transmitting sensitive data, such as credit card details, use encrypted connections, and log off the Web site when you have finished.
▪ Choose passwords that are hard to guess, and protect them.
▪ Do not copy or run software from unknown sources.
▪ Regularly back up your files, and safely store the copies.
If you follow those basic precautions and apply any others that may be advisable now and in the future, you at least improve your chances of winning your own battle for confidentiality and security.

Encrypted Web pages on Web browsers have secure-transaction symbols, such as a lock symbol or “https://” in the address bar. The s means secure.