Saturday, June 21, 2008

How to safeguard our personal and financial data

Nowdays, computer are very common to everyone. We use computer to save our data and do some financial transaction such as online banking in order to save time. Therefore, have you done a proper safeguard of ur data? How do you safeguard your personal and financial data?

There are some suggestions and ways to safeguard your personal and financial data:

Password-protect your access
-Use a strong password or pass-phrase to protect access to your data.

Limit physical access
-Whenever possible, store confidential data on devices that are physically secured.Allow only authorized individuals access to those devices, and monitor access to those devices whenever possible.

Encrypt stored confidential data
-Whenever possible, encrypt stored confidential data, whether it is being permanently or temporarily stored. This can help prevent unintended disclosure even if your system has been compromised. Data can be protected by encrypting the entire storage drive (whole disk encryption) or as selectively as you need, such as by folder or even individual files. Be sure to only use the method or tool your organization has approved. If the encryption key or password is lost, access to the data may be lost as well. There are many products or options available, so be sure to carefully select one that is right for you and your organization.

Install anti-virus software and a firewall
-Protect yourself against viruses and Trojan horses that may steal or modify the data on your own computer and leave you vulnerable by using anti-virus software and a firewall.

Regularly scan your computer for spyware
-Spyware or adware hidden in software programs may affect the performance of your computer and give attackers access to your data. Use a legitimate anti-spyware program to scan your computer and remove any of these files.

Avoid accessing financial information in public
-Resist logging on to check your bank balance when working from a coffee shop that offers wireless access. These systems are convenient, but also unknown. Casual users have no way of assessing how sturdy their firewalls are.

Don't open mystery attachments
-Never open an attachment or click on a link sent to you by an unknown party. Attachments can contain viruses and links can lead unsuspecting users to dummy sites where they are asked to input financial information.

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