How to stay safe online for Identity Management Day
SPOKANE, Wash. — April 12 is Identity Management Day, a day to spread awareness about the importance of managing and securing digital identities.
Research shows that scammers are increasing their complexity, and hacks are seeming more real to consumers than ever before. Lookout cybersecurity conducted a survey and found that 8.7 percent of its 2,000 participants correctly identified legitimate text messages, login pages, and videos when compared to scammers.
Here’s a few Identity Management Day tips on how to stay away from scammers online:
- Conceal public information
Limit the amount of personal information you put online. Things like locations, pet names, last names and birthdays can be used to break into important accounts.
- Strong passwords
If possible, use two-factor authentication for your logins. This makes it harder for hackers to access your account and will alert you to any potential hacking attempts. Also, be sure to regularly change the passwords of your most important accounts to prevent hackers from getting access. Make sure you use a combination of letters and numbers for the best protection.
- Avoid using common passwords
Passwords like “password,” qwerty,” and “123456” are easy for hackers to decode, so use a passwords that’s unique to you and something only you could guess.
- Delete WiFi connections
If you connect to an unknown WiFi network and it starts asking you for any sort of username and password, such as validating your identity with a login, disconnect from it immediately. And try to avoid using public WiFi in general.
- Use Security Software
Most security protection software will automatically monitor and identify scam URLs in email, text messages, and on the web and block you from threats that can do harm.
READ: Your passwords may not be as safe as you think
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