Identity theft is a growing risk due to an increased interest in online banking, social networking sites, mobile downloads, online gaming and other popular online activities. Gaining a better awareness of your level of exposure and adopting secure computing practices are steps you can take to reduce your risk to identity theft.

Best practices

Set privacy and security settings

When available, set the privacy and security settings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing.

Limit the amount of information you share

It is okay for you to limit how and with whom you share information with when using your social media accounts.

Removing saved passwords

Saving passwords on your computer may be convenient, but it also opens up your computer to vulnerabilities, including identity theft.

• Mac: Keychain
• Windows: Credentials – Accessing credential manager

Reducing your risks

Make smart choices by owning your online presence.

• How to Keep Your Personal Information Secure from the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Information website shares good tips, such as:
  • Never share passwords, your social security number, date-of-birth or other personally identifiable information (PII) through email.
  • Avoid storing your PII online or on your computer.
• Routinely clear your browser history, cookies, etc.
• Ask yourself if sharing personal information on social networking sites with your 327 “friends” is really the safest thing for you to do – do you really want all of them, and their 418 “friends”, to know you are on vacation and your house is empty?
  • How Burglars Use Facebook To Target Vacationing Homeowners by Mark Johnson, an International Business Times article.
• That sweepstakes or free gift you just won that sounds too good to be true could arrive with a price tag of a Trojan horse, computer virus, or other form of malware if you enter your contact information.

Additional resources

Updated: 3/5/2021