- How to Safeguard Our Personal and Financial Data ? -

Web-based services, including social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, are becoming prime targets for hackers to seek your personal information. It's nearly enough to make you long for the days of typo-ridden e-mails pretending to come from your bank.

If you use your computer to manage your personal finances (Eg. banking, taxes, online bill payment, etc), store sensitive personal data, or perform work-related activities away from the office, computer hackers are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to pry that information loose. However, you can take the following steps to protect yourself:

1. Use and maintain anti-virus software and a firewall -- To protect yourself against viruses and Trojan horses that may steal or modify the data on your own computer and leave you vulnerable



2. Regularly scan your computer for spyware -- Use a legitimate anti-spyware program to scan your computer and remove any of spyware or adware hidden in software programs, which may affect the performance of your computer and give attackers access to your data.
   
   
3. Keep software up to date -- Upgrade your software programs to the most current version and turn on the Windows' automatic update function to get Microsoft's regular security patches. (Eg. Internet Explorer 8)



4. Use passwords and encrypt sensitive files -- By encrypting files with passphrases, you ensure that unauthorized people can't view data even if they can physically access it.



5. Avoid unused software programs -- If you have programs on your computer that you do not use, consider uninstalling them. In addition to consuming system resources, these programs may contain vulnerabilities that, if not patched, may allow an attacker to access your computer.
   
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7. Dispose of sensitive information properly -- To ensure that an attacker cannot access those sensitive files, make sure that you adequately erase them and avoid to give away any valuable or sensitive personal information on your MySpace or Facebook profile, or within messages to other members of the network.

7. Pay attention to the messages from Windows -- The messages that pop up on your screen, especially in the new Vista operating system are often containing helpful security information.

8. Consider creating separate user accounts -- If there are other people using your computer, you can create a different user account for each user, and you can set the amount of access and privileges for each account in order to avoid someone else may accidentally access, modify, or delete your files.

9. Evaluate your software's settings --The default settings of most software enable all available functionality. However, attackers may be able to take advantage of this functionality to access your computer. It is especially important to check the settings for software that connects to the internet (Eg. browsers, email clients, etc) and try to apply the highest level of security available.

References Links:

1. http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST06-008.html
   
2. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2007/tc2007119_234494_page_2.htm