IT Security Blog

The Importance Of Protecting Your Customer’s Information

By

protecting online info

Whether you deal with selling items or services online or in a store, there are risks when it comes to your customer’s personal information. Even the POS cash register systems that many retail chains use are subject to hackers since they work over the internet, and without the proper protection these hackers can walk away with more than just people’s credit card numbers.

As you can see, there are many levels at which a business needs to work to protect their customers and their information. So, how do you do it? [Read more…]

5 Ways To Protect Client Digital Information

By

As a part of any kind of business, you should be aware these days of the importance of keeping your client’s digital information secure and private. However, you may not be entire sure how to do this.

To get your mind moving in the right direction, consider these five following ways: always require clients to use digital best practices, be sure to understand where business litigation fits in the legal equation, keep up to date on your own website security structures, be consistently responsible with your company’s e-waste, and whenever possible, have digital security trackers in place.

Digital Information security

Require Clients To Use Digital Best Practices

Digital best practices for clients means one major thing – choose secure passwords! As a company, you can make sure passwords chosen by clients at least have a certain length and complexity. This is one of the easiest ways to make sure that their information stays safe from hackers who are simply trying for some kind of brute force method to get into accounts. Such a simple thing, but makes an enormous difference in keeping data private. [Read more…]

Your Online DUI Mug Shot Photo: Can it Be Taken Down?

By

Can you imagine the horror of seeing your own DUI mug shot photo online for everyone to see? That DUI incident that results to having your photo taken can result to the ruin of all that you have worked for. The first thing that happens to a person who gets arrested on suspicion of drunk driving or driving under the influence of drugs is that he or she will be taken to the nearest police station. There the fingerprinting process will most likely happen as well as the dreaded taking of photo.

Image Source

For many people who have been arrested on suspicion of DUI, it may not be as easy as paying the fine and resolving never to make the mistake of doing it again. Even those who have not been charged or convicted will soon realize that they have left their mark forever in the police records and the Internet via their DUI mug shots uploaded online. Consulting with the best DUI defense attorney may just be something you need to keep in mind, just in case.

So Why are These Mug Shots Found Online?

Apparently because of some misguided need to become transparent, many police and sheriff’s departments have inadvertently or knowingly put mug shots along with their booking details straight into the hands of enterprising website owners.  This they have done by making them available in searchable databases . From the  embarrassing moments of people arrested for varying crimes rose the Mug Shot Website industry.

The Mug Shot Websites

So now, the possibility that you or someone you know or knows you will come across your DUI mug shot is very real. Photos of thousands of people in the same boat are out there, haunting them for the rest of their lives. That mug shot in the hands of an employer may cost a job. That mug shot in the hands of a loved one may cost a relationship. That mug shot in the hands of an enemy can be used as a weapon.

Having Your Online DUI Mug Shot Removed

The first instinct is to contact the website where your DUI mug shot appears. Most would ask for a removal fee to expunge such records. It has to be noted though that your photo may appear in several other similar sites as well. It is possible then that you may find yourself needing to pay an unlimited number of websites.  After all, the information has been made freely available. You may consult with a lawyer to find out if there are any legal remedies available to you. Many are living with the fear of having one mistake found out. For some, that fear may become permanent.

Safe Internet Banking

By

Image: zuuply

Banking transactions have always been sought to be kept confidential because of the big risk in having personal finance details divulged to unauthorized parties.  Internet banking gives rise to the question of how safe personal banking information remains in the online environment.  Banks assure their clients of safe transacting but this does not totally eliminate scams and scammers from the equation.  It is best therefore to learn safe Internet banking.

Safety starts on the computer used.  It is best to use one’s own computer which has been installed with updated firewall software, anti-spyware, and anti-virus.  Using public computers is quite risky since there is a big possibility that scammers watching on the side-lines can retrieve personal details after a person’s use which will allow them access to bank accounts.  It is considered safe practice to always log out from one’s Internet banking webpage after completion of transactions.  Clearing browsing history is an additional safety practice.

Personal details have to be kept private.  This means not divulging PINS, passwords, and other like information to other people.  Computer users in general are always forewarned of staying away from passwords that are easy to guess because of their similarity to commonly known facts such as birthdays, the user’s name, children’s name, and pet’s name.  Regularly changing passwords is highly recommended.  It is likewise recommended to shred bank records before throwing them in the bin.

Other online banking safety practices require the use of common sense.  Banks will not ask for a client’s personal banking information which they already have so emails containing such request should be ignored or reported to the bank.  Online bankers should never agree to request to have their accounts used for illegitimate purposes.  Online bankers are advised not to click on links provided on emails since legitimate banks do not ask their clients to do such an activity.

Information Governance

By

 

Before there was a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs, most companies relied on typed records, carbon copies and hand-written notes to store data and valuable information. If the boss needed to check an employee’s work history, he would simply ask his secretary to pull the file folder from the wall of four drawer, steel filing cabinets. The system worked pretty well before we had computers and the digital world replaced the paper world.

Today, almost every document has been copied, scanned or otherwise reduced to a digital record. IT managers are charged with the responsibility of designing systems to create, store and access that data. They, along with the executives and managers who run the company, must be able to account for that data whenever it is needed. Electronic data may be stored on the hard drives within an organization or it could be out there in the cloud. [Read more…]

Protecting Online Anonymity

By

Computer users lose their privacy once their online presence and activities are no longer anonymous.  Losing anonymity means that someone or a group of people are able to track online behavior.  This includes knowing the user’s location or browsing habits.

Most people are not aware that their online activities are under surveillance.  It should be noted that Internet Service Providers  possess a full record of user activities, not to mention that search engines and websites likewise record all user activities in spite of claims that all data garnered are “anonymized” or has not been provided identifiable information.  There are providers and sites that purposely collect personal information to sell to the highest bidder. 

So how do we go about protecting our online anonymity?  Users can consider using a software implementation that uses a network of servers that can effectively conceal usage and location.  This highlights the layered nature of encryption wherein a data is encrypted and re-encrypted many times over on its way to its final destination.  The process prevents undesirable elements from unscrambling and understanding the message sent.  There are several tools available in the market today including Proxy.org, JonDonym, Ultra Surf, Tor, Proxomitron, and the Ultra VPN.

Another way to protect online anonymity is to install a good software firewall. Computer users can also stick to visiting highly reliable big sites such as Disney which are committed to upholding the highest standards.  Upholding the highest standards simply means doing right with whatever information they inadvertently or purposely obtain from the customers.   There is also an option to maintain an alias email address to enable users to receive messages without revealing the true email address.