Proactive Online Information Protection

excerpted from securitynewsdaily.com

Install a free anti-virus program.  Macs and PCs are vulnerable to daily threats. Even if you don't open an email and never download a file or program, just visiting a website can put you in peril. 

      According to researchers, 85 percent of infections are from websites, often legitimate sites that have been unknowingly infected themselves.

• Avoid "free" wireless networks.  That gratis Wifi network in the local brewpub is probably a den of digital iniquity. Such networks usually aren't secured or encrypted, allowing strangers to track your online movements, record your passwords and make off with your credit-card information before you realize what's happened. Stay off them and use your own wireless subscription or service.
• Use secure Web connections.  The "HTTPS" acronym at the beginning of many Web addresses denotes a site that is using encryption (the "S" stands for secure).

Many websites have this option, but most of us don't know or don't bother to use it. You have to purposely set it in many Web-based        email programs, for example. It can occasionally cause other programs to hiccup (Windows Live on HTTPS can conflict with Outlook Hotmail Connector, for example), but the inconvenience is worth it.

• Don't be too social.  Want to share your latest vacation pics on Facebook? Great — just wait until you get back from your trip.

• Shop safely online.  The convenience of letting a shopping site, especially one you visit frequently, save all your personal information and credit-card numbers is tempting — but don't do it.

• Change your passwords, a lot.  Since you cannot count on every site or business out there protecting your data — or even telling you when it's been stolen — one of the best protections is also the simplest.

Changing your password frequently can keep you one step ahead of the thieves. If your bank password has been stolen and is up for sale online, changing it will take away the criminal's keys to your account

• Would you, could you on a train? Don't.  Sitting in the commuter car or in any public place makes you vulnerable to "shoulder surfers," people who scan other people's laptop or smartphone screens looking for passwords or other personal information.

Many of these crooked cruisers don't even turn their heads; they just take a picture with their cellphones as they go by.

• Avoid app attacks.  Don't be the first kid to jump into the pool. In other words, when you discover a new app for your smartphone, tablet or browser, check it out before you tap "install."

Look carefully at the permissions it asks for. Better still, see how often it's been downloaded (the higher the number of times, the less likely it's malware) and read the reviews.
 
If you have any system questions or concerns, call the CCS Retail Systems Support Department at 800.672.4806 or email us

-Bryan