Information security, a term we hear very frequently these days. Why do we need to protect information..? How it affects the life of us is an important question. Think about your savings at bank or the salary which get credited to your bank account, is it remaining as physical cash or is it lying in the bank computer system as bits and bytes. What will happen if some one changes the value to reduce the amount…? . Then you will realize the importance of information security.
Nowadays you with all new technology developments we get the opportunity to access lots of services through World Wide Web. When you provide your personal information you should be vigilant about few facts. You should validate the authenticity of the web site; there are several mechanisms available but most accepted is the communication through public key infrastructure. Best method is to check whether your site is communicated using "https" protocol. That gives you the comfort factor of using a secure site which will protect date using an encryption method. The next time when you give your personal information or your personal financial information like credit card number , Bank Account number or any other number please check for these things.
If you are a frequent user of internet banking or an other internet related transaction processing sites always make a habit to clear history or the cookie files before you leave your web session. Cookie files or the history will be a very valuable tool for intruders. Never share your passwords with other parties , even with your family members. This might lead to an information leakage to a hacker. Always try not to write down passwords and never use important / common information as your passwords , For example you should not use your child's name , Mothers name , your vehicle model as your password. Those things will be easy to guess for intruders.
Always look for the legal disclaimer for the information you provide. You should know under which legal acts or ordinance you are covered for the information you provide , in case of breach of contract or the trust by the party that receives information. There have to be a confirmation that the information you provide is used only for the purpose they mentioned. If you don't get this type of a legal disclaimer think twice before you open up. Otherwise you may get trapped.
Please keep in mind that prevention is always better and easier than cure. |
E-mail