Top Tips to Stop Travel Identity Theft – Sileo on Fox Business
Identity theft increases a great deal when you are on the road. Start protecting yourself with these Top 5 Identity Theft Tips while traveling:
- Travel Data Light. If you don’t have to take it with you, increase your safety and leave it at home. This includes checkbooks, debit cards, excess credit cards, Social Security cards and any excess digital gadgets. Simplicity is Security!
- Guard Your Devices. Smartphones and tablets are as powerful as laptops. Turn on the auto-lock passcode to keep others out of your information.
- Surf Protected. Stop using the free WiFi hotspots in cafes, airports and hotels, as they are constantly sniffed by cyber criminals. Instead, setup tethering between your mobile phone and tablet or laptop so that you are surfing safely.
- Privacy Please! Instead of leaving loads of data unprotected in your hotel room (a major source of theft), hang your privacy sign on the door and let house cleaning know that you do not want to be disturbed. Lowering traffic lowers risk.
- Mind the Lions at the Watering Hole. Take a minute to watch the video to the left to understand how increasing your awareness in airports, hotels, conferences and restaurants can save you tons of time and money.
Cyber Security Expert Sileo in USA Today
Cyber security expert John Sileo made the front page of the USA Today digital version, and the Money section of the print edition.
Excerpts from the full USA Today Article, Travelers at High Risk of Identity Theft, Experts Say:
“Data theft goes through the roof on the road,” says Sileo, a spokesman for CSID, an identity-protection provider . . . Two key challenges for travelers involve the use of unsecured wireless networks at hotels, airports and other public venues and the infiltration of smartphones through Bluetooth technology . . .
When booking airline tickets, hotels or other arrangements, use a credit card rather than a debit card, because it decreases your liability. And never announce on social networks that you’re leaving town, if only to keep someone from breaking into your home . . .
Hackers also can easily get into computers. One method is a man-in-the-middle attack in which special software inserts a rogue user between the legitimate one and the unsecured wireless network. Experts recommend having updated anti-virus software, encrypting sensitive data and never typing in passwords or credit card numbers over an unsecured wireless network. Even fax and copier machines should be used judiciously, because they can store information, experts say.
Why Facebook is Losing Face (Trust)
Do you have a nagging sense that Facebook isn’t always straight with you about how they share your personal information, photos, posts, friend lists, networks, likes and surfing habits? That they are selling your data in ways that you have never even imagined?
Your instincts are dead on. Facebook has been saying one thing to our faces and doing another behind our backs. Facebook is in pre-IPO mode and has the propaganda machine running overtime like Big Brother at an Animal Farm.
Enter the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC just released a formal complaint identifying eight counts against Facebook for violating the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC confirmed what we’ve always known: Facebook tells us what they think we want to hear, not necessarily the truth. Here are the details of Facebook’s dishonesty:
- Under the guise of increasing user privacy, Facebook has consistently provided their advertisers with ever-expanding access to sensitive user information, not less.
- Contrary to Facebook’s marketing machine, user profiles are assigned a unique User ID that allows applications (e.g. Farmville) to track us as individuals, not as anonymous, aggregated members of a group.
- Even if you restrict all applications’ access to your data, your friends can install applications that allow Facebook to expose your personal information without your consent or knowledge.
Sileo In the Media
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