Various forms of cybercrimes are now gradually gaining prevalence worldwide. The number of cyber-attacks continuously increases at an alarming rate. Particularly, identity theft is an increasingly popular crime, with the possibility of any person becoming a victim at any time. Thus, taking preventive steps to help you avoid the possibility of becoming a victim is important.
Identity thieves, in particular, can steal your personal information for their benefits, such as name, address, bank account, telephone number, and social security number. While many security companies are now creating various security applications to prevent this crime from becoming widespread, it’s also important to learn basic information about safeguarding your personal data. For starters, you can check several security companies, like forallsecure.com, for advanced fuzzing solutions, which autonomously generate test cases custom to your apps.
Also, you need to know some cybersecurity testing strategies to further help you protect your information and prevent identity. Before that, here’s what’s cybersecurity testing all about.
Cyber Security Testing As A Weapon against Identity Theft
Cybersecurity testing is an in-depth process of assessing programs, networks, and applications to ensure their level of resistance against cyber-attacks. It also offers complete protection for applications and equipment to effectively withstand and prevent hazards of cybercrimes, especially identity theft. Aside from this, various companies are now inclined in producing software applications and fuzzing solutions to ensure protection against cyber-attacks.
Additionally, the production of a testing checklist for individuals and organizations through the help of reliable cybersecurity testing firms or a certain company’s IT experts significantly helps to prevent identity theft.
To give you a better idea, here are several cybersecurity testing methods utilized by companies and organizations:
- Access in control management
- Penetration testing
- Vulnerability assessment
- Password management
Useful Tips to Help Prevent Identity Theft
After knowing what cybersecurity testing is all about, the next question would be what you can do to prevent yourself from being a victim of identity theft and why it’s important to learn some security technics. To help you out, here are five tips on how to effectively prevent identity theft:
1. Protect Personal Data
Securing your personal information is an essential step in preventing identity theft. Ensure that your personal data is safely secured, especially if you’re with someone you don’t completely know. Also, it’s important to practice responsible routines to effectively secure your data, and these include:
- Verifying your personal records’ security to ensure that they’re properly protected from cybercrime is essential in protecting yourself from identity theft. Particularly, make sure that your personal records are properly disposed of whenever resigning from a specific job so that they won’t be used for another person’s benefit.
- Locking away your financial records, credit cards, and other personal data into safety is a useful step in preventing identity theft. It’s highly applicable for some people who are working with other people in their homes.
- To protect themselves from cyber-attacks, properly disposing of your personal credentials, such as charge receipts, medical statements, insurance forms, and bank statements can also be of great help for people.
- Keeping your debit, credit, and ATM card receipts to yourself for proper disposal is a helpful strategy. Also, never leave the aforementioned card receipts in a bank or a store.
2. Practice Discretion
Storing your essential personal information from a stranger’s grasp through discretion can be a helpful alternative if you aim to avoid the possibility of yourself being a victim of identity theft. Always practice discretion in everything that you do, especially if you’re working with other people. Also, try limiting the things that you carry outside, especially if they’re your credit cards.
Limiting what you carry outside, especially papers and card receipts that involve your personal information, should be practiced in order to lessen the possibility of other people having them. Also, keep your credit cards in a secure place.
3. Monitor Online Accounts
Practice keen observation on all your online accounts, especially those that require personal data. As much as possible, try not to put your personal information on any computer home page, a social media website, and a personal computer profile. Personal data, such as birthdays, addresses, and bank accounts, should never be saved on any social media home page.
Refrain yourself from providing any financial or personal information on any website unless you’ve been assured of their resistance against identity theft and only if they’re well-secured. Also, you can keep your login information secured by refraining from writing it down or telling it to anyone.
4. Use Strong Passwords
To effectively protect your accounts from being hacked by other people, always try using passwords that aren’t easy to guess. The usual personal data, such as birthdays, own name, parents’ name, or your room number, shouldn’t be used as a password as they can be easily associated with you and used to open your accounts.
Also try incorporating a combination of upper and lower cases, letters, and numbers when making a strong password. A minimum of eight-digit password can do as long as it’s unusual and strong.
5. Strengthen Your Computer
To further protect your computer from being hacked by identity thieves, below are some ways to improve it, effectively protecting your personal information saved on it:
- Refrain yourself from using automatic log-in procedures as they usually require saving your personal information, like name and password, on the website.
- Avoid downloading files from strangers. As much as possible, try using security applications in your mobile phones and personal computer to better secure them.
- Safeguard any personal and financial information on your computer. Use stronger passwords if possible.
- Install updated virus protection programs on your computer.
- Secure browsers and use firewalls as additional protection.
- Delete personal information on your computer whenever you dispose of it or buy a replacement for it.
Takeaway
Various forms of cybercrimes are now gaining prevalence worldwide. Particularly, identity theft can significantly affect one’s life once neglected. To better help you avoid being a victim of it and prevent identity theft, several alternatives should be done.
Some useful tips you can do to prevent identity theft include protecting personal information, safeguarding your personal computer from potential hackers, practicing discretion in everything that you do, monitoring online accounts, and using strong passwords. It’s also imperative to know how important it is to protect your personal data, as well as your family’s personal information to lessen the possibility of them being victims of identity theft and other forms of cybercrimes.