Is someone stealing your identity online? It’s about time you become more aware and learn how to protect yourself from online threats.

As per The Harris Poll, around 60 million people living in the U.S. were affected by identity theft in 2018, which was a 45 million increase from that recorded in 2017. 

This indicates an exponential increase in identity theft, in turn, making cybersecurity-as-a-service a necessity.

Cybercriminals are more motivated than ever to profit from your compromised personal information. 

Don’t allow them the opportunity to do so, as misused personal information is a graver problem. 

That said, you can monitor your identity in a matter of minutes, using certain specially designed tools such as SpotLight ID.

Also, assessing your internet habits and your current levels of risk are essential to avoid hackers from stealing your personal data.

7 Protective Measures To Avoid Identity Theft 

1. Secure Your Social Media Accounts

If you’re like most of us, you probably are on most social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, among others.

We advise you to change the passwords for each of these accounts, ensuring you create strong passwords that are difficult to crack. 

Check to see if any of those accounts provide you the extra layer of security such as two-factor authentication. 

2. Change All Your Passwords 

If you haven’t changed your password in a long time, you better do it now.

Why?

Simply because having the same password provides hackers with continuous access to your accounts. 

To avoid this risk of frequent breaches, consider changing your password every few months. 

If you have more than 100 passwords that they've never changed or have the same password for many accounts.

Then here’s breaking it to you, that both of the above are bad practices, which you should absolutely avoid.

3. Use an Encrypted Operating System 

Encrypted operating systems are referred to as Full Disk Encryption on Windows 10, and File Vault on Mac OS. 

With the help of encrypted systems, people who do not hold the proper authorization, will not be able to read any data stored on your computer. 

Your data gets encrypted, which means it gets scrambled so that only you can make the data readable again, with the help of the right encryption key.

If you want to know more about how to detect a threat, then you must read this- How Cybersecurity Agencies Help In Treat Detection

4. Use Smart Device Security

How many devices do you use? 

Here’s an even more important question, “How many people use those devices?”

It doesn’t matter which device you use to stay connected with the world, for having them securely locked is all that does. 

All devices these days, provide you the liberty to create passwords. 

And these passwords could be biometrics, patterns or the basic passwords. 

If you use biometrics like face scanners or fingerprint scanning, then a backup password would be mandatory to create. 

You can use a strong passcode in such cases, without sharing it with anyone. 

5. Be Selfish With Sharing Data

If there’s one thing you should be selfish about, let that be sharing your personal data with strangers.

Don't be ever-willing to fill out forms that ask for your personal details, online or in person. 

Several companies ask all their potential customers and even current ones for data so that they can organize and use it or may even share or sell it. 

Thus, it’s advisable to stay cautious about who you’re sharing your data with and why.

6. Stay Away From Public Computers

Do you love using public toilets? 

I’m sure you don’t due to the fear of you catching some dreadful disease.

Likewise, you should refrain from using public computers, as they are the most unsecured devices and thus easy to hack.

You never know who was at the computer before you and who will be after. 

A hacker could be nearby spying on you through the open Wi-Fi, or worse, the previous user could have set a trap to capture your data. 

So beware! Remember to carry your own device the next time you visit a library instead of using the public one.

Protect yourself from Phishing tactics now, read this to know how! 

7. Stop Using Free Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi is the best, you may think. 

Well, it’s anything but the best! 

We know it allows you the freedom to shop or text from anywhere for free.

But would you rather have your device hacked through public Wi-Fi or not use it at all?

Due to this Wi-Fi being free, using it may make you prone to more identity threats that you can imagine. 

Unless you have your device protected with a Virtual Private Network (VPN), don’t use free Wi-FI.

How Cybersecurity-as-a-Service Can Help?

Now that we’ve given you a list of basic dos and don’ts of identity theft, we want to tell you that some things are out of your control.

Yes, cybercriminals are smart enough to breach your privacy and that is why you need an expert who can help you tackle cybercrime.

Good Tech People is your go-to team of experts for cybersecurity-as-a-service in Los Angeles City. 

We can help you deploy a multi-layer device protection plan for your business. 

We will first set-up a protection plan and if your devices are already infected, we will follow through our efficient post-infection plan, which includes detection, containment, investigation, and remediation. 

Call us at 212.206.6262 to know more!