Identity theft is becoming ever more present, and although consumers are becoming more aware of how to protect themselves from this life-altering crime, there are some things that consumers are doing that are putting themselves at an increased risk of having their identity stolen. There is no way that a person can completely protect themselves from having an identity theft incident, especially since they are not the only ones that have access to their personal information; businesses are collecting consumers’ personal information, and it has become a common occurrence that the information that the businesses have been collecting becomes compromised in a data breach.
Do you have the standard password that you use for most of your accounts? If so, you’re not alone in the regard. In a survey, 82% of people have reused online passwords at least once. Although it’s easier to remember one password rather than dozens, that practice is putting your personal information at greater risk. We recommend not reusing passwords for your accounts because if a hacker knows one password, it’s likely that they can gain access to other accounts with that same password.
Do you ever head over to a coffee shop to get some work done there? Your connecting to their Wi-Fi might not be a good idea due to the vulnerability of your transmitted information. If you’re connecting to that network, it’s possible that others, with malicious intentions, can see that you’re connected and if they’re skilled they might be able to gain access to your information that is being transmitted.
So, you’ve taken our advice to use a different password for each platform login, but you use the “Remember Me” or password saving options online. Here’s where it can get tricky. Remember that these companies that help you by remembering your password do have the possibility of their getting hacked too. Instead of the “remember me” option, it would be better if you used a standard password that has a unique variation for each platform.
Overall, there is nothing that you can do about other companies leaking your personal information, but you can take steps to protect yourself. It starts with stopping these bad security habits and replacing them with ones that will limit your exposure.
The bottom line is that there’s really no better time than the present to become a LibertyID member for identity theft restoration protection. LibertyID provides expert, full service, fully managed identity theft restoration to individuals, couples, extended families* and businesses. LibertyID has a 100% success rate in resolving all forms of identity fraud on behalf of our subscribers.
*Extended families – primary individual, their spouse/partner, both sets of parents (including those that have been deceased for up to a year), and all children under the age of 25