Identity Theft Speaker and Expert Discusses How to Protect Yourself on the Internet

The internet has become a scary place with all the hackers, the phishers, the trolls, the fake girlfriends. I mean, I figure the only place I can really hide is under my desk, right? They can't get me or my identity under here. At least I don't think they can. Today is Safer Internet Day. I know it sounds super corny, but if you think back over the last year, you can actually appreciate the importance of a day dedicated just to staying safe online. Yahoo and LinkedIn had major password breaches, a technology journalist's digital life was completely destroyed by hackers, and even Twitter was recently hacked. But there are things we can all do to make sure we aren't at high risk. And according to McAfee's internet security expert, they involve heading to a fallout shelter. Okay, no they don't. So you don't think I need to wear these safety goggles or be in a fallout shelter?

There's many things you can do to protect yourself, and you don't necessarily have to have safety glasses to do it.

One of the things I am really worried about is password protection.

Yes. I have over 700 accounts that need passwords. Not one account has the same password. So you memorize your most pertinent passwords for your most pertinent accounts. So you always change up your passwords. You change your passwords at least every 6 months to a year. You use letters and numbers, uppercase, lowercase. Never the same password for the same account. And for multiple passwords, use a password manager.

He also suggested two-factor authentication in services like Gmail. His second area of advice, though, had to do with social media safety and making sure we aren't revealing too much about ourselves in our profiles.

You know, 50 years ago, the bad guy was the KGB. You know, they were the mole on the inside. Today, we in social media are the mole on the inside. We are exposing all of our information.

His third tip: make sure your computer and Wi-Fi network are protected.

Computer security really is basic, and it's really easy to do. You know, you, you know you have to have antivirus, and then of course there is your wireless connection to the internet. At home, you want to make sure you have a network key to access that wireless so nobody can just jump onto your wireless. And when you're out and about, there's something called Hotspot Shield, which is a free program that you can install that encrypts your wireless connection on any device.

The fourth tip has to do with smart online online shopping and making sure you're staying safe when you put your credit card in online.

Make sure that this website you're going to, that the, uh, in the address bar it says HTTPS. That means it's a secure page before you enter your credit card information. And then from there, uh, just to make sure that you pay attention to credit card statements.

Which brings us to number 5, and that's to remember that your phone is now a computer and that needs to stay protected as well.

Well, first thing when it comes to your mobile device is make sure it's password protected. Beyond that, especially if you're on an Android device, Android acts the same as Microsoft's Windows operating system in that it's very vulnerable to viruses.

I guess he's right. I can't live my entire life in fear of the internet, and of course I'd miss out on all those fun cat GIFs. But I am gonna go change my Facebook passwords and set up two-factor authentication and do a few other things just to make sure my identity's safe. You should do the same. And also make sure you know where the closest fallout shelter is.