The Roanoker - July/August 2014 - 38

ILLUSTRATION: THE NOUN PROJECT / TNS
ISTOCK PHOTOGRAPHY / LANGSTRUP

Programs like 1Password help store
passwords for multiple accounts with
an encrypted vault, helping users keep
them straight but also secure.
and it forces you to change the passwords more frequently."
Yonts and Shively both endorse password services
as a good option. Programs like 1Password help store
passwords for multiple accounts with an encrypted
vault, helping users keep them straight but also secure.

Email & Social Media Security

Your passwords for
email, social media and
financial accounts are
the most important.
Change them regularly,
and keep them secret
and hard to figure out.

38 JULY/AUGUST 2014

Worry about this:
Links and attachments in suspicious-looking
emails, even if it's from someone you know. Click
it, and next thing you know your account is sending
similar links to everyone in your contacts list.
What to do:
Be wary of links or attachments you don't expect
in email, even if that email is sent by someone you
know. The same goes for social media accounts like
Facebook or Twitter.
Worry about this:
Phishing - a technique by which hackers replicate
a legitimate site. They'll send what looks like an email
from your bank, for example, suggesting there's been
a security breach and you need to secure your account. The idea is to either get you to click on a link,
either to a virus-infected site or one built to look like
your real bank website. They'll ask you to re-enter
your information or security questions, and once you
do they have your information.
What to do:
The way to guard against phishing is to never click
the link in these emails - even if they look legitimate.
Instead, go to the regular account login by entering

the URL in your browser. If it's a real issue, you'll be
directed to the same notification you saw in your email.
Don't worry about this:
Can you get a virus just by opening an email?
Technically, yes, but it's uncommon these days. More
often, the would-be hacker will send a link or an
attachment.

E-Commerce
Don't worry about this:
Most large retailers such as Amazon.com have
good security programs. After all, their reputations
are built on the perception that the consumer will be
protected in the online transaction.
Worry about this:
Smaller niche sites that have smaller budgets for
security. Yonts says you can often judge a website's
security by its design. If it looks unprofessional and
poorly put-together, odds are its security isn't all that
tight either.
Worry about this:
What information you enter for a transaction. It's
not a good idea to enter bank account information
or a debit card linked to a bank account; if those get
compromised, hackers can bleed all the money from
the account.
What to do:
Use a credit card, which gives consumers more of
a chance to spot fraudulent charges. In fact, it's not
a bad idea to maintain a separate credit card entirely
for online transactions.
THE

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