Today - the 29th of October - is APEC's Cyber Security Awareness Day.
Being increasingly reliant upon our laptops and tablets for everyday activities like banking and shopping, we have never been more vulnerable to crimes proliferated in the cyber world, chief among them identity theft.
There are a range of resources you can use to help you protect yourself online. These include Australian government websites, including the Attorney General's www.ag.gov.au/identitysecurity and the Department of Communication's http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/. You may also like to check out one of our newest acquisitions at Miller Library, a comprehensive and easy-to-read guide entitled Staying Safe Online. This book teaches you how to avoid cybercrime and identity theft and protect yourself from online fraud.
Some of the tips offered include:
- Register to individual websites only if you absolutely have to, and change your passwords frequently.
- Create a secondary email address and use it for logging into any shopping or social networking websites. Only give out your personal, private email address to individuals you know and trust.
- Always select the option for 'Private browsing' when searching the internet, especially if using a computer outside home.
- Ignore any emails that ask you to reveal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc.. This is a popular scam and countless people have their identities stolen this way.
- Ignore any requests for money, even if they appear to be from a friend. An ALIA member was recently targeted with this very scam -- his email contacts received a message, purportedly from him, saying that he was stuck in Manila and needed them to send him money via Western Union!
