Online Safety

With great privilege comes great responsibility. The Internet contains a wealth of information, but it is also a breeding ground for many who would do evil. Here are some things to consider when posting online:

Manage Your Privacy

With search engines and indexing, be aware that anything you post on the internet may be found at a later date. Even if you remove something from a web site (an offensive comment or picture) it may be able to be found through a search engine cache. Putting information on the Internet can be a bit like getting a tattoo: it seemed cool at the time, but 10 years later you might regret it. Think before you post.

Don't Share

Your mother might disagree, but online this is an important rule. Don't share your personal account information with anyone. Doing so can cause a breech of your personal information and do irreparable damage to your credit record.

People are Trying to Steal Your Information

You've probably gotten an email that appears to be from you bank or some other place where you hold an account asking you to update your information or reporting some urgent problem. Ensure that the site you are directed to is ACTUALLY the site that it claims to be. Many of these emails are simply attempts by thieves to steal your information. A way to prevent having you data exploited through phishing is to go directly to the site that is calling for action.

For example: If you get an email from eBay, asking to update your account information, then instead of clicking on the link in the email, go directly to site by typing http://www.ebay.com into your browser and login to your account. This will allow you to see if the request was genuine and ensure that you are not logging into a false web site that is trying to steal your personal information.