You are going to get hacked! (or at least your data is)
Face it, you are. Well you might not be specifically but your data will be compromised at some point, somewhere, somehow. Target breached, Home Depot breached, JP Morgan breached, on and on and on and on......you (even if you take all self precautions) are going to get hacked because in this day and age we entrust our information and data to 2nd and 3rd parties who are not within our control. Period, point, blank. It is a fact. Try and say it is not and you are living in the stone age. So if this is the case then what can we do about it? Well instead of trying to worry about being secure you need to shift your mindset on being resilient. You need to shift your mind to being risk reactive. Sorry there is NO other way about it. You may here others preach well if you only do this or that or if you do this latest great technique then you can prevent x,y, or z but at the end of the day they are full of shit. Sorry they just are, and this is coming from a security guy. Don't put your single trust in some framework or security device or piece of software. At the end of the day it is all about your risk realization, acceptance, mitigation and reaction strategy END OF STORY. So with that gloom and doom stated what can you (Joe consumer) do about it? Well there are a few things thank god that you can and that are under your control. Here are some tips to enable your posture to be resilient, reactive, and ready to face whatever is thrown your way.
1. Enable some form of credit monitoring - ask your cc company what they offer and enable the services. Make sure you know what and when they cover in case there is a breach of your identity.
2. Subscribe to a personal credit and reputation monitoring services such as LifeLock, MetDefender, and the like. Cost is nominal when you think of what they can do for you in the area of tipping you off once your data is compromised.
3. Close all old and non-used internet accounts. Go through and make sure any old internet accounts you no longer used are closed. This can be a bit time consuming but well worth it to reduce your footprint on the internet.
4. Subscribe to a data reduction service such as Abine DELETE ME. Very minimal cost and will further reduce your internet footprint.
5. Use a site (and if you have Chrome) a plugin such as justdelete.me - This will automatically tell you how to opt out of most sites you are on and take you to the page to do it.
6. Setup GOOGLE ALERTS to key on your name, username and email. That way you can get tipped off to internet activities involving this data.
7. Keep your home systems (computers and mobile) secure with anti-virus, firewall, and privacy protection from any of the big vendors. Key programs such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Anti-Threat, or AV Antivir and the like can help keep your pc's and mobile devices protected.
8. Subscribe and activate your banking notifications for any transaction activity to email you or text you a soon as they happen. 99% of banking and financial institutions offer this, just take the time to enable and set it up.
9. Go through your credit report at least 2 times a year. I would suggest every 3 months if feasible.
1. Enable some form of credit monitoring - ask your cc company what they offer and enable the services. Make sure you know what and when they cover in case there is a breach of your identity.
2. Subscribe to a personal credit and reputation monitoring services such as LifeLock, MetDefender, and the like. Cost is nominal when you think of what they can do for you in the area of tipping you off once your data is compromised.
3. Close all old and non-used internet accounts. Go through and make sure any old internet accounts you no longer used are closed. This can be a bit time consuming but well worth it to reduce your footprint on the internet.
4. Subscribe to a data reduction service such as Abine DELETE ME. Very minimal cost and will further reduce your internet footprint.
5. Use a site (and if you have Chrome) a plugin such as justdelete.me - This will automatically tell you how to opt out of most sites you are on and take you to the page to do it.
6. Setup GOOGLE ALERTS to key on your name, username and email. That way you can get tipped off to internet activities involving this data.
7. Keep your home systems (computers and mobile) secure with anti-virus, firewall, and privacy protection from any of the big vendors. Key programs such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Anti-Threat, or AV Antivir and the like can help keep your pc's and mobile devices protected.
8. Subscribe and activate your banking notifications for any transaction activity to email you or text you a soon as they happen. 99% of banking and financial institutions offer this, just take the time to enable and set it up.
9. Go through your credit report at least 2 times a year. I would suggest every 3 months if feasible.