How to Safeguard Our Personal and Financial Data?

Nowadays, people are using internet to do financial dealings such as e-banking. Millions of dollars are being traded in the internet daily. Besides that, personal information needs to be given to conduct financial transaction. There are number of virus programs in the cyber world that will cause lots of damages to our computer system. They are capable of accessing all the information stored in a computer which might erase the data and damage the operating system so that we could not use the internet.



There are a few safeguards that can be taken:

  • Ask your financial institution about its security program. You are entitled to be assured that the company takes data security seriously even though you may not obtain a copy of the company’s policy. Security is also often discussed on a company’s web site along with its privacy policy.
  • Do not provide persona data to an unsolicited e-mail. Many identity thieves are acting on behalf of financial institution to send e-mails.
  • Install the best security program or software. Internet security software can help to fight the threats in the internet such as spyware, adware, computer viruses and hackers. It is a program that can help protect your computer from vicious software in the internet.
  • Use anti-virus software. Anti-virus program is to protect against some viruses that are very harmful to your computers. Anti-virus program should also be updated constantly to better protect you from the new viruses.
  • Anti-spyware. Adware and spyware are dangerous programs that can access your personal information stored in your computer. It should be installed and updated regularly.
  • Choose your pin wisely. Do not choose a pin number that can be easily figured out by the thief such as your birth date or child’s name. A combination of uppercase and lowercase letter and numbers will give you a better security.
  • Avoid accessing information in public. When you’re outside in a restaurant or coffee shop that offers wireless access, do not log on to check your bank balance. You will not know how firm their firewall is.
  • Do not open unknown sender’s attachments. You must always be careful when there is any attachment or links that are sent to you. These attachments might contain viruses and the links might bring you to other website where you’re asked to input your financial information.
  • Report lost or stolen cards immediately to the bank or other financial institution that issued them so that the thief will not have a chance to use it.
  • Check billing statement. Match your receipts with your statement each month to ensure that you’re billed correctly and do not have any suspicious transactions.



References:

http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/general/2006/09/23/safeguard-your-financial-life.aspx

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1491881

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs24e-FinInfo.htm#6


1 comments:

Tan Cheng Ling said...

Is "personal" data, not "persona" data... (In point #2)

Hmm, there are hundred of methods to prevent data from stolen, but there always a thousand ways to get stolen, so, be smart when dealing with all our data.

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