By Naomi Dolin-Aubertin
Today we're taking a break from the techno-babble to refresh some important security points to remember during the holiday season.
By now, most everyone has heard of the data breach at Target that compromised up to 40 billion credit cards. If you haven't, here's CNNs take on the story:
The point being, always, always check your bank statements. It's so incredibly easy for thieves to access credit card information through fraudulent sites, hacks, and new technology.
The other thing you should routinely be rotating is your password. This is a list of the most popular passwords of 2012. Really people, what's up with monkey, dragon and baseball?
This great infographic illustrates just how bad we can be about our passwords. 73% of people use the same password for multiple sites, 33% for every site, and only a measly 38% of smart phone users have a passcode lock on their phone!
When you think about the fact that we might store credit card information, access bank statements, and make payments under the same password we use to post photos to Facebook, it starts getting very scary, very fast.
Phishing scams are something you should be aware of all year round, of course. Beware of anyone asking for money or telling you that you need to verify your account information by sending or entering your username or password.
And as terrible as it sounds, there are people out there waiting to make a dollar off of your holiday generosity. This is a great article for spotting the grinches and picking the right organization to donate to this holiday season. In the meantime, a quick rule is to give to those organizations you know well and are truly passionate about.
Stay tech safe and Happy Holidays to you all!
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