How to keep your identity safe online

When it comes to safeguarding your identity, you can’t be too careful. Unfortunately, we live in a world where data breaches abound and our personal information is at risk daily. While this may seem ominous, there are simple steps you can take in order to keep your identity safe and credit report clean.

The tricky thing about identity theft is that you may not even realise it has occurred. However, a poor credit report due to fraud can still impact your ability to buy a car or home, for example. Being cybersecure means being proactive. There are simple steps you can take to protect yourself. Here are five critical tips for cybersecurity that every individual ought to know.

5 Crucial Cybersecurity Tips

1. Don’t click on links from an email or open email attachments unless you are certain of the origin.
2. Don’t compute as an Administrator user.
3. Freeze your credit or monitor it closely.
4. Set alerts on any account where money is involved.
5. Always initiate connections for example don’t follow a link you’ve received from your bank. If you need to contact an organisation go direct to them, don’t respond to something you’ve received as you can’t trust the source.

These five tips were designated by cybersecurity experts to keep top officials as well as everyday individuals safe from fraud and identity theft. Just like learning the rules of “Stranger Danger” was of the utmost importance when you were a child, learning these rules of cybersecurity is just as sacred for keeping your identity safe.

Think carefully before clicking on any links

In today’s cyber world, it’s best to withhold trust unless you are absolutely certain of the safety of the interaction. This is particularly critical when it comes to links. Never click on a link unless you know the sender, are certain it is in fact from that sender, and feel confident it is safe. Phishing is a common practice in which a link is sent to you (possibly addressed from an individual you know) that can cause you harm once clicked. That is not to say that the individual you know is sending you the harmful link, on the contrary, they have probably been hacked themselves and don’t realise their account is being abused. It is far safer to navigate yourself to a given site than to click a link.

Credit

Apart from traversing safely in the cyber world, keeping a close eye on your credit is also key. Check your credit report. This is a must in modern-day society. Once you are certain that fraud has not occurred (or has been reported if it has occurred) put a freeze on your credit. This ensures that no one can take out a line of credit in your name, thus preventing future fraud. You can always unfreeze it in the event that you want to take out a line of credit yourself.

Freezing your credit is simpler and safer than just checking your credit frequently, which is the other option at hand. Often, there are no other indicators that your identity has been compromised unless you are diligent about checking your credit report. With a credit freeze, you don’t have to worry about checking your credit repetitively.

With these top five cybersecurity tips, your identity should be safeguarded online. There will always be hackers, breaches, and phishing, but with this advice you are far less likely to be attacked or victimised.