Identity Theft Awareness and Prevention
December is Identity Theft Awareness and Prevention Month.
Why, though? Shouldn't we be aware of identity theft and working to prevent it all of the time? [The answer is yes.]
So what do we do? Unfortunately, there's no easy answer. There are lots of precautions you can take, and a list of precautions might seem too obvious to bother writing down, but it's so easy to be careless with our personal information that we can never really have too many reminders.
- Don't share your personal information! This includes account logins and passwords, social security numbers, financial or health information.
- Think about all of the places you keep this information, particularly online. You wouldn't leave your wallet behind in a public , so why would you leave an open computer or your smartphone logged into your online banking account?
- Any breach in your security has a ripple effect. Think about the personal information that you provide to just one account. What would someone who figured out that one password be able to find out about you? Is there information in that account that might make it easier to get into another of your accounts?
For our part, we have changed the settings on our public computers to shut down after five minutes of idle time. This addresses one of the biggest risks to online security. We already run a very high level of security, both for your protection and for the town's digital infrastructure.
We use a computer management system that clears out everything you were working on when you end your computer session: any files you created or downloaded, your browsing history, any accounts you logged into, and any settings you might have changed. These are good habits for you to learn for any computer or device that someone else might use.
There are so many more security challenges as we become more connected, more surveilled, and as the web becomes more monetized. Check out our non-fiction book displays on the lower level and find titles on preventing identity theft and related security issues, including:
Exploding Data : Reclaiming Our Cyber Security in the Digital Age
Hacker's Challenge : Test your Incident Response Skills Using 20 Scenarios
Pegasus : How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy
Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons : a Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Security and Privacy for Non-Techies
Have a look at our basic guide to keeping yourself safe online. We have this available in print near the reference desk on the lower level of the main library, and you can click the link: Online Security to read online.
We're always learning along with you, and we love to help out and share knowledge! Let us know what security and technology issues concern you at email hidden; JavaScript is required.