ConsumerReports.org posted to Yahoo Finance a great guide for consumers entitled “7 Online Blunders That Threaten Your Identity“. It’s a long article with common mistakes that lead to identity theft and things you can do to mitigate the risks. In summary, the 7 blunders are:

1. Assume your security software protects you
   • Software must be activated and updated regularly to be effective.
   • New software bundled with your computer may have an expiry, so be sure to renew.
2. Access an account via an email link
   • Clicking links embedded in emails is risky (fraud potential), particularly for anything that has to do with financial information. Don’t take the bait to update your password, account number or other information.
   • Forward suspect email to spam@uce.gov and reportphishing@antiphishing.org
3. Use a single password for all accounts
   • Use a variety of passwords, even variants, that mix letters, numbers & symbols of at least 10 characters in length (there are more sophisticated password options as well)
4. Download free software
5. Think your Mac shields you from all risk
   • Mac users fall to as many phishing scams. Use Firefox for phishing protection.
6. Click a pop-up ad that says your computer is insecure
   • 15% of survey respondents click pop-up ads that can take you to a spyware site or install malware to your computer
7. Shop online without precautions
   • Use a separate card for Internet shopping and look for https in the URL

All great tips to avoid identity theft and fraud. You can read more of the suggested precautions here.

Tags: id theft, identity theft, web security, browser security, phishing, security, online security