Page 44 - How to be Cyber Safe + Savvy

CHAPTER 3: Finding Trust in Online Accounts
THE ONE SECRET TO STAYING SAFE ONLINE ... DOES NOT EXIST
Because there's
no single online shield, you have to layer
your safety measures on top of each other as reinforcements. That way, if one layer fails, another one, two, or three layers are in place to prevent further damage.
Use these tips and tricks to create layers in a security strategy to keep you and the data in your online
accounts safer.
1. Download apps and programs
only from trusted sources, like the App Store or Google Play. And look at reviews
as well as information from the developer about what kind of data is collected through the app. Some apps gather much more data than they need to.
2. Enter credit card information manually instead of saving it with account data stored by
a vendor or in your web browser. Storing payment information can be conve- nient, but it's risky. Hackers have tools to dig into data stored on our browsers, through bogus browser extensions, malware, or hoax email schemes. Better to spend the 30 seconds
on manual entry now than the many hours it
would take to re-
cover from identity
theft later.
3. Use one of your credit cards only
for online purchases and nothing else.
If your financial data gets hacked, you'll have just one place to go to stop payments and seek recovery of any stolen funds. And never use debit cards — they offer much weaker buyer protections.
44 CYBER SAFE + SAVVY