A Guide to Internet Safety

Protecting yourself on the Internet is an intimidating prospect, especially in the face of horror stories of identity theft lurking around every corner, e-mail scams coming to rob you and malicious software stealing your personal information. In reality, Internet safety is a lot like everyday safety, and a little education goes a long way. Learning about the various types of Internet safety hazards will enable you to protect yourself and your family.

Only Shop Reputable Sources
Identity theft is the number-one worry when it comes to Internet safety. The good news is that most scams are easy to avoid if you know what to look for, and reputable shopping sites take Internet safety very seriously.

Any time you provide your personal information, you need to know where it's going. If you're dealing with a company like Microsoft or Amazon.com, you can feel confident that your personal information is safe. Large online companies have people dedicated to Internet safety.

If you're dealing with a smaller Web site, there are things to look for that provide a greater measure of Internet safety. First, be sure that any form requesting personal information is secure. You'll see this as an "https" instead of an "http" at the start of the URL. If you're using Internet Explorer, you'll also see a padlock to the right of the Web address that you can click for more information.

Second, look for certification from a company that specializes in Internet safety. Verisign and Geotrust are two companies that specialize in providing secure communications, while HackerSafe tests Web sites to make sure that hackers can't enter the back end and steal customer data. If you see Internet safety logos from these companies, you can click on them to see the last time the site was tested. If you don't see any outward evidence of Internet safety measures on a site, shop elsewhere.

Use Smart Passwords
If you have a lot of online accounts, you may be tempted to use an easy-to-remember phrase or password for every account. Resist this temptation. One of the biggest risks to Internet safety is to use the same password, or an easy password, for every account. If an identity thief figures out your password, he can then access all of your accounts.

For the highest level of Internet safety, use a different, hard-to-guess password for each online account. Avoid using obvious information, such as your name or that of a spouse, and avoid using personal information, such as date of birth or social security number. The best passwords are a combination of letters and numbers at least 10 characters in length. If you're having trouble choosing a password, try an acronym for an easy-to-remember phrase. A good Internet safety rule of thumb is to be creative in your passwords, and to change your passwords every 90 days.

Beware of E-mail Scams
A report published by the IRS revealed that phishing and other e-mail-based fraud is at an all-time high and the number-one type of fraud in recent years. Internet safety relies heavily on your ability to tell legitimate e-mail from scams looking for personal information.

Phishing is a type of e-mail scam where thieves pose as financial institutions or legitimate Web sites and try to get you to hand over personal information with a threat. Typically, a phishing e-mail will claim that someone has tried to access your account or that your account will be suspended if you don't send them your information. The e-mails and fake sites these thieves create can appear to be very legitimate, even copying the design of the actual site.

To ensure your Internet safety, do not follow links contained in these e-mails. Banks do not contact you by e-mail when there's a problem. Shopping Web sites will usually call you to resolve a problem rather than send an e-mail. If you get an e-mail looking for personal information, get contact information from the home page of the actual Web site, not the link in the e-mail, and call them. This lets you know if the request is legitimate and helps ensure the Internet safety of others by alerting banks and Web sites that they are the subject of a phishing scam.

Internet safety also means ignoring unsolicited e-mails offering you the opportunity to make money. The elderly are frequent victims of these scams, and victims have been defrauded of thousands of dollars. Nobody is going to transfer millions of dollars from an African bank account to you. If you didn't enter a lottery, there's no way for you to win it. This is one place where Internet safety and everyday safety are the same: If it seems too good to be true, it is.

Avoid Malware
Not all identity theft takes place because consumers ignore Internet safety protocols and voluntarily surrender personal information. Some Web sites are configured to slide malicious software, called malware, through your computer's defenses without your knowledge. Malware can do anything from logging every keystroke you make to searching your files for personal information to report to a third party.

To promote good Internet safety, make sure your Web browser is configured to alert you if any Web site attempts to download files to your computer. Have a good antivirus and spyware protection suite installed on your computer, and be sure to scan it at least once a week.

The most important key to Internet safety is to be careful of which Web sites you visit. Many Web sites that claim to offer free music or software downloads are actually designed to plant malware on your computer, which can lead to identity theft. Unless you are confident that these Web sites are legitimate, do not visit them.

Examples of some legitimate free software Websites that won't compromise your Internet safety include download.com, tucows.com and shareware.com. If a free software Website says "warez" or claims to have very expensive software available for free, avoid it. These Web sites are most often scams that will plant malware on your computer.

Some legitimate-looking Web sites attempt to circumvent Internet safety precautions by disguising their malware. If you visit a Web site that says you need to install software to view the Web site, leave and don't come back. Legitimate Web sites are available in standard HTML versions that don't require special software to run, with few exceptions.