Here are 5 tips to protect your privacy online:

1. Adjust social-network privacy settings

Facebook has been working to simplify their privacy settings, but they can still be confusing to the average users. Spend about 10 minutes a month making sure that your privacy settings are what they should be and are actually protecting your privacy.

To get there, log in to Facebook, in the top right of your screen it should say “Account” when you scroll over or click on that tab you can see you Privacy Settings. Click here for a step by step process of how to adjust your privacy settings.

Twitter, another popular social network, also lets you lock your account from public view. In settings, there’s a feature called “protect my tweets.” They have had breaches before, so it is always good to take every precaution you can to protect your information.

2. Frequently Change Passwords

It is good to rotate passwords on sites you use often. Especially sites that hold your financial information. Every 6 months or so you should change your passwords just in case someone has access to your online profile. A good way to keep track of these passwords is with a password keeper such as 1password. This way you can store your passwords to all sites in one place and use a master password to gain access.

3. Opt-out of ad tracking

Online ad networks often install a small file on the computers of people who visit certain websites. These so-called cookies can log your surfing habits, allowing advertisers to tailor ads to your interests.

If you are trying to keep some online privacy then you should opt out. In the settings panel of your web browser make sure that disable cookies from third party websites. Most advertising companies use this information to directly target you with ads of products that you use. They know what items you purchase because they see where you go on line and keep a record.

4. Use a secure Internet Connection

Don’t browse private sites and look at personal or financial information while on a public wifi connection. Never shop online at your local coffee shop because you never know who may be spying on you with that very same open internet connection. If you are making an online purchase, looking at your online banking, emailing a personal story or photo, ONLY do so on a secure password protected internet connection.

5. Think before you post

While this may seem like an obvious suggestion, many people don’t do it. Posting that you are at your local watering hole at 3pm on a Thursday after you called in sick could get you in more trouble than you planned on. Uploading an embarrassing photo of yourself may cost you a future job. I know of a company that didn’t hire a candidate for a position because when they checked out her Facebook profile her status was “I just need a job – ANY Job!”. That made her less appealing to hire than other candidates that were less vocal on their pages.

Use your brain. Posts are public, permanent and exploitable.

To learn more and begin to build your own good privacy habits order your copy of my latest book Privacy Means Profit Today!

Wiley & Sons has just announced my latest book, Privacy Means Profit, will be available in stores and online August 9, 2010.  This book builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

Click Here for More Information

Related posts:

1. Online Privacy Needs A Federal Office
2. Are Your Kids Safe Online?
3. Online Safety: The Truth About Social Media Identity Theft

I had the privilege of speaking at Fort Bragg this summer! Here is what they had to say:

I saw John Sileo’s presentation at a conference recently and I was thoroughly impressed. He really interacted so well with the audience that I actually wanted to bring him to Ft Bragg to help us celebrate our Consumer Awareness Month. It took several months of coordination, but we finally all got it together and John came down and did an excellent presentation to help us out with teaching our community all about identity theft. His presentation was interactive, dynamic, the audience was really pleased and after the presentation they held him there for an hour asking great questions! We were thoroughly pleased with John and we really enjoyed his presentation.

John Sileo is an identity theft and information security expert that speaks professionally to organizations that want to protect their profits against identity theft, social media exposure and corporate espionage. His recent clients include the Department of Defense, FDIC, FTC and Pfizer. Pcik up a copy of John’s latest book Privacy Means Profit - Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line.

Related posts:

1. Identity Theft Expert Endorsed by Larry Winget
2. Beale AFB Gives Identity Theft Speaker Dose of Own Medicine (ouch!)
3. Identity Theft Speaker on The Bill Handel Radio Show Today!

Mobile Data Theft

Technology is the focal point of data breach and workplace identity theft because corporations create, transmit, and store so many pieces of information digitally that it becomes a highly attractive target. This book is not intended to address the complex maze that larger organizations face in protecting their technological and digital assets. Rather, the purpose of this book is to begin to familiarize business employees, executives, and vendors with the various security issues facing them.
The task, then, is to develop a capable team (internal and external) to address these issues. In my experience, the following technology-related issues pose the greatest data-loss threats inside organizations:

• Laptop Theft: According to the Ponemon Institute, 36 percent of reported breaches are due to a lost or stolen laptop.
• Mobile Data Theft: Thumb drives, CDs, DVDs, tape backups, smart phones
• Malware: Software that infects corporate systems, allowing criminals inside these networks
• Hacking: Breaking into your computer system from the outside, using networks, wireless connections, remote access, and your Internet pipeline
• Wireless Theft: Wireless connections to the Internet in airports, hotels, cafes, and conferences
• Insider Theft: When someone in the IT department (or elsewhere) decides to make extra money by selling your data

According to the Ponemon Institute, ‘‘Thirty-six percent of all cases in this year’s study involved lost or stolen laptop computers or other mobile data-bearing devices. Data breaches concerning lost, missing, or stolen laptop computers are more expensive than other incidents. Specifically, in this year’s study, the per-victim cost for a data breach involving a lost or stolen laptop was just under $225, over $30 more than if a laptop or mobile device was not involved.’’ Continue Reading….

The post above is an excerpt from John’s latest book Privacy Means Profit. To learn more and to purchase the book, visit our website www.ThinkLikeASpy.com.

Privacy Means Profit

Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

This book builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

In Privacy Means Profit, John Sileo demonstrates how to keep data theft from destroying your bottom line, both personally and professionally. In addition to sharing his gripping tale of losing $300,000 and his business to data breach, John writes about the risks posed by social media, travel theft, workplace identity theft, and how to keep it from happening to you and your business.

Related posts:

1. Business Killers: Identity Theft and Data Breach Protection FREE WEBINAR
2. Data Breach Protection: Laptop Theft Best Practices
3. Data Breach Increases 33% in 2010 and You’re Next

For businesses, shredding is low-hanging fruit (one of the easiest sources of data breach to eliminate). But businesses are so often focused on electronic forms of data breach that they fail to heed the following statistics highlighted in a recent Ponemon Institute study conducted for the Alliance for Secure Business Information:

• More than 50 percent of sensitive business data is still stored on paper documents.
• Forty-nine percent of data breaches reported in the survey were the result of paper documents.
• Sixty percent of businesses admitted that they didn’t provide the proper tools (e.g., shredders) to safely discard documents that were no longer needed.
• The average data breach recovery cost according to this survey was $6.3 million.

If you own a business, make sure to destroy sensitive documents prior to discarding them, to decrease your legal liability. Businesses are required to destroy all consumer information before discarding it in the trash. The Fair & Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) Disposal Rule states that ‘‘any person who maintains or otherwise possesses consumer information for a business purpose’’ must properly destroy the information prior to disposal. FACTA further states that every person and/or business must take ‘‘reasonable measures’’ to protect against unauthorized access to the use of the information in connection with its disposal… Click Here to Continue.

Privacy Means Profit

Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

This book builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

In Privacy Means Profit, John Sileo demonstrates how to keep data theft from destroying your bottom line, both personally and professionally. In addition to sharing his gripping tale of losing $300,000 and his business to data breach, John writes about the risks posed by social media, travel theft, workplace identity theft, and how to keep it from happening to you and your business.

Related posts:

1. Workplace Identity Theft Economies of Scale
2. Document Shredding
3. Identity Theft for Businesses: Mobile Data Breach

1. Which steps need to be taken first to make the process simple?
2. Which actions are most effective at preventing identity theft?
3. Which items are you most likely to complete given time and resource constraints?

The detailed information for taking each of the steps is contained in the individual mind-set chapters of Privacy Means Profit, which are shown in italics and enclosed in parentheses following the steps, for easy identification. I strongly recommend that you refer back to each chapter for in depth explanations of each step.
I also highly recommend that you set up a schedule for yourself and complete the items phase by phase. Take 10 minutes a day, one hour per week, or one weekend a month and schedule time to ‘‘accumulate privacy.’’ If you have to wait on one of the action items—for example, you order your credit report but it will be 10 days before you receive it—move on to another of the items further down the list and return to the item you skipped when you receive the report.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: There is no silver bullet in the world of fraud or identity theft prevention. If someone tells you there is, he or she is probably trying to sell you something. Rather, the layered approach enumerated here will provide you with a base level of privacy, which you can add to over time. Click on the links provided below to begin implementing these phases today.

Phase 1: Credit

1. Order and monitor your free credit report, and set up regular calendar reminders every four months to review your updated report. This can be completed online at www.AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 1–877–322–8228. This step is not necessary if you take step 2 and subscribe to an identity monitoring service, which has the added benefit of providing convenient, consistent surveillance delivered directly to your e-mail box. (Monitor)
2. Sign up for a reputable identity monitoring service with 3-in-1 credit monitoring, cybertracking, theft restoration services, and recovery insurance. To learn more about specific surveillance products, visit www.Sileo.com/product-reviews. (Monitor)
3. Freeze your credit with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This step, while the most important for protecting your credit, makes it more difficult to take the two previous steps, which is why it is listed third. Visit www.DefendYourDollars.org to begin the process. If you do not wish to place a security freeze on your credit, at least place an extended fraud alert on your file. (Eliminate)

Set up online account alerts for all of your banking, credit card, mortgage, and investment accounts. At the same time, reduce at risk mail and switch to online statements, which allow you to easily and consistently monitor your accounts for signs of fraud. Begin using online bill pay instead of sending checks through the mail. (Monitor)

Phase 2: Wallet

1. Protect your wallet or purse by keeping it with you or locked up at all times and by removing the following items (Eliminate):
2. Sign your credit cards and include Photo ID Required on both the back and front. (Eliminate)
3. Photocopy every piece of identity in your wallet and store the copies safely, in case the wallet is stolen and you need to shut down accounts quickly. (Eliminate)

Phase 3: Databases

1. Opt out of information sharing, telemarketing, and junk mail by visiting www.OptOutPreScreen.com or calling 1–888–5–OPT–OUT. (Eliminate)
2. Place your name on the National Do Not Call Registry by visiting www.DoNotCall.gov. (Eliminate)
3. Place your name on the Direct Marketing Association’s Do Not Mail list by visiting www.DMAChoice.org. (Eliminate)

Phase 4: Computers

1. Physically lock your computer in a secure place when in transit or when you are not using it. (Secure)
2. Protect your desktop, laptop, or server computer with software security tools (preferably by hiring a professional to help you implement them) (Secure)
3. Have your computer or cell phone digitally shredded or low-level formatted before selling, donating, or passing it on to someone else. (Destroy)
4. Visit www.Sileo.com/productreviews to learn more about the best tools to implement.

Phase 5: Mobile Computing

1. Define what is at risk on your mobile data devices. (Protect)
2. Verify acceptable use of your mobile data devices with your company. (Protect)
3. Control exposure and eliminate unnecessary transport of your mobile data devices. (Protect)
4. Encrypt individual data files, as well as your hard drive, SIM card, and SD memory card. (Protect)
5. Utilize a secure wireless Internet connection. (Protect)
6. Utilize SSL-encrypted e-mail, and e-mail sensitive data only when absolutely necessary. (Protect)
7. Use a backpack or other carrying case to keep your mobile devices physically on you. (Protect)
8. Consider adding a locking or alarm device to your laptop and mobile computing devices. (Protect)
9. When going through security at the airport, don’t put your laptop on the X-ray belt until you are ready to walk through the metal detector; keep an eye on it until you reach the other side. (Protect)
10. Utilize a LoJack-type software program to track your laptop if it is stolen. (Protect)
11. Password-protect your cell phone and PDA with a sophisticated alphanumeric/symbol login. (Eliminate)
12. Destroy any sensitive files that you store electronically after you are done using them. (Protect)

Phase 6: Physical Documents

1. Purchase a high-quality, cross-cut document shredder and shred every document, disk, and credit card that you no longer need. Place the shredders conveniently, for easy access. (Destroy)
2. Create a safe room, or purchase a fire safe or fire-rated filing cabinet and have it secured to the foundation of your home or office. Lock your essential documents according to the chart. (Lock)
3. Lock your mail and mailbox against theft. (Lock)

Phase 7: Online

1. Research your online identity. Google your name, phone number, address, e-mail address, and any other information you would like to verify. (Defend)
2. Withhold or mask identity information when building your social networking profile, including: date of birth, address, phone number(s), and any password reminders that you use (high school, city born, pet’s name, etc.). (Defend)
3. Read and understand your privacy settings on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, and other social networking sites; adjust them to protect your identity information. (Defend)
4. Vary online passwords and make them more sophisticated by using alphanumeric/symbol passwords. (Secure)
5. Be alert and wary of ‘‘friends in distress’’ scams, posted links, and other social engineering scams. (Defend)
6. Only ‘‘friend’’ your actual friends, and understand both the benefits and drawbacks of responding to quizzes and surveys, and utilizing widgets, groups, and third-party applications, before you add them. (Defend)
7. Don’t forget: posts are permanent, public, and exploitable. (Defend)
8. Protect your e-mail (Defend)
9. Become knowledgeable about information collection performed by search engines, cookies, and tool bars. (Defend)
10. Read, understand, and adjust your application privacy settings in Google, Google Docs, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, or other online accounts. (Defend)
11. Be aware and recognize phishing scams. (Secure)
12. Shop securely online, patronizing only reputable, recognizable companies. (Secure)

Phase 8: Travel

1. Travel light; simplify and minimize what you take with you. (Travel)
2. Take precautions to protect your home and office while away. (Travel)
3. Travel with a copy of your identity documents and give a second copy to a trusted friend. (Travel)
4. While traveling, securely lock up client files, laptops, cell phones, and passports and other identity documents. (Travel)
5. Carry a travel pouch, use a backpack, and watch your credit cards while out of your hands when traveling. (Travel)
6. Don’t announce to strangers on social networking sites when you will be traveling. (Travel)
7. Bank safely, using only well-lit ATMs in banks or credit union buildings. (Travel)
8. When you return home, monitor your bank accounts and possibly rotate your account numbers. If possible and safe to do so, monitor your accounts while traveling. (Travel)
9. Pick up your mail as soon as possible after you return; likewise retrieve any copies of identity documents that you left with friends. (Travel)

Phase 9: Social Engineering

1. Learn to observe what is going on around you by slowing down. (Evaluate)
2. React to requests for identity of any type with healthy skepticism. (Evaluate)
3. Think ‘‘Hogwash!’’ when anyone tries to access your data. (Evaluate)
4. Look for signs of manipulation (fear, rushing, bribery, flattery, trust, security). (Evaluate)
5. Stop, look, and listen when your hogwash reflex triggers. (Evaluate)
6. When in doubt, interrogate the enemy. (Evaluate)
7. Implement the four phases of interrogation (Interrogate)
8. Don’t be afraid to say no. (Interrogate)

Phase 10: Extras

1. Create a dossier, complete with photocopies and logs of all crucial identity documents, for future reference. (Monitor)
2. Use an electronic calendar (like Microsoft Outlook) to track your bill- ing cycles. (Monitor)
3. Guard against shoulder surfing (someone peering over your shoulder or recording you on a cell phone video camera) to steal your PIN while at an ATM or retail checkout. (Evaluate)
4. Monitor your annual Social Security statement. (Monitor)
5. Eliminate or lock up all identity documents in your car. (Eliminate)
6. Remove your name from other physical and online directories. (Eliminate)
7. Scratch out all but the last four digits of any unmasked credit card numbers on the merchant’s copy of your credit card receipt. (Destroy)
8. Implement all safeguards for your spouse or partner. (Secure)

For more ways to protect you and your organization from Identity Theft pick up a copy of my new book: Privacy Means Profit- in stores August 9, 2010.

Related posts:

1. 5 Steps to Good Privacy Habits
2. How To Control Your Privacy Online
3. Practice the Privacy Reflex

My girls messing around at the Barnes & Noble release of Privacy Means Profit.

Privacy Means Profit.

This book builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publish Date: 8.9.10 (August 9, 2010)
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN-10: 0470583894
ISBN-13: 978-0470583890

http://amzn.com/0470583894

Excerpt: At breakfast on the morning of August 12, 2003, a small and profitable computer company thrived at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. By lunchtime, that same business was on its way to ruin. Within twelve months, thanks to the theft of personal and company information, a forty-year-old family-business-turned-software-startup was doomed and John, heir to the prosperous enterprise, faced the prospect of prison for crimes he didn’t commit.

Beyond the specter of prison time for John, the situation held dire consequences for his family and friends. There was a real threat that his wife and two young daughters might be separated from their husband and daddy if John went to prison. John’s parents, who founded the company in 1964, shouldered most of the financial responsibility for the dying business and experienced declining health from the resulting stress. In the end, the situation would expose a dark secret in John’s close friend, Doug, a recent partner in the business.

Bulletproof your organization against data breach, identity theft, and corporate espionage.

In Privacy Means Profit, John Sileo demonstrates how to keep data theft from destroying your bottom line, both personally and professionally. In addition to sharing his gripping tale of losing $300,000 and his business to data breach, John writes about the risks posed by social media, travel theft, workplace identity theft, and how to keep it from happening to you and your business.

By interlacing his personal experience with cutting-edge research and unforgettable stories, John not only inspires change inside of your organization, but outlines a simple framework with which to build a Culture of Privacy. This book is a must-read for any individual with a Social Security Number and any business leader who doesn’t want the negative publicity, customer flight, legal battles and stock depreciation resulting from data breach.

Protect your net worth and bottom line using the 7 Mindsets of a Spy:

• Eliminate the Source
• Destroy the Data
• Secure the Systems
• Lock the Docs
• Evaluate the Risk
• Interrogate the Enemy
• Monitor the Signs

In this revised edition, John includes an 8th Mindset, Adaptation, which serves as an additional bridge between personal protection and bulletproofing your organization. Privacy Means Profit offers a one-stop guide to protecting what’s most important and most at risk-your essential business and personal data.

Related posts:

1. Privacy Means Profit Details Announced
2. How To Control Your Privacy Online
3. 5 Steps to Good Privacy Habits

Privacy Means Profit (Wiley) available in bookstores today!

Here are The Top 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy It:

You love sharing bank account numbers, surfing habits and customer data with cyber thieves over unprotected wireless networks

You never tempt hackers and con artists by using Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Docs, or other cloud computing platforms to store or communicate private info, personally or professionally.

You bury your head in the sand, insisting that “insider theft” won’t affect your home or business.

You’ve already hardened your laptops and other mobile computing devices in 7 vital ways,  eliminating a major source of both personal and corporate data theft.

You have a “thing” for identity theft recovery costs and would rather invest thousands in recovery than $25 in prevention.

If you want to defend yourself and your business against identity theft, data breach and corporate espionage, then buy a copy of Privacy Means Profit.

Privacy Means Profit

Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

Privacy Means Profit builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

In Privacy Means Profit, John Sileo demonstrates how to keep data theft from destroying your bottom line, both personally and professionally. In addition to sharing his gripping tale of losing $300,000 and his business to data breach, John writes about the risks posed by social media, travel theft, workplace identity theft, and how to keep it from happening to you and your business.

Related posts:

1. Top 5 Reasons Corporations Educate Employees on Identity Theft
2. Workplace Identity Theft: Shredding
3. 5 Steps to Good Privacy Habits

People will do something—including changing their behavior—only if it can be demonstrated that doing so is in their own best interests as defined by their own values.
—Marshall Goldsmith, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

People don’t change bad habits until they have a compelling reason. Too often that compelling reason is the result of a habit’s negative outcome; but the promise of positive rewards resulting from the establishment of good habits can be a strong motivator. In the workplace, aligning responsible information stewardship with personal and professional gain can set the stage for good privacy habits.

Here are 5 steps you can take towards perfecting your own Privacy Habits:

1. Tighten up online passwords. Create strong, alphanumeric passwords. Instead of your password being Sunflower make it $uNf(0w3R.  Don’t use common password reminders such as your dog’s name, street address, or mother’s maiden name. All of those would be easily uncovered by an identity thief.
2. Buy a Shredder – and use it. By shredding anything that has your name, address, birthday, social security number, or account numbers on it, you will be less likely to have your identity stolen through the trash. Make sure that the shredder you chose is kept in a convenient location – if you can’t get to it fast, you won’t use it!
3. Secure your Facebook. Tighten up the privacy settings and make your profile only available to your friends. We do a lot of posts on Facebook Privacy Settings because they have a tendency to change frequently. Watch the site and subscribe to our newsletter to stay current on how to protect yourself and your profile on Facebook.
4. Opt-Out. Take the time to call 1-888-567-8688 or visit www.OptOutPreScreen.com
   to stop financial junk mail from ending up at your house and inevitably – your trash. Those mailers give thieves an easy way to set up credit card accounts in your name without your consent. They spend money on the card and default on the balance, leaving you with the mess of proving that you didn’t make the purchases.
5. Order your free credit report. By law, you are entitled to one free report from each agency once a year. The easiest way to get a report is to visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. Make sure that you request your free annual credit report from one credit agency only, as you can order the other two reports throughout the remainder of the year. By spreading the reports out over time, you will be monitoring your files consistently and frequently.

To learn more and begin to build your own good privacy habits pre-order your copy of my latest book Privacy Means Profit Today!

Wiley & Sons has just announced my latest book, Privacy Means Profit, will be available in stores and online August 9, 2010.  This book builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

Click Here for More Information

Related posts:

1. 7 Steps to Stem Facebook Privacy Bleeding
2. Is Your Wireless Carrier Tracking Your Surfing Habits (Maybe)
3. 3 Steps To Take When Disposing Of Your Computer

Public opinion blames Google, because Google is big and rich and and scarily omnipotent in the world of information domination. It’s fashionable to blame Google. What Google did was, to me, unethical, and they should eliminate both the collection practice and their archive of sniffed data.

But the greater responsibility lies with the businesses and homes that plugged in a wireless network and did nothing to protect it. Don’t tell me that you don’t know better. When you beam unencrypted data outside of your building, it’s no different than putting unshredded trash on your curb – YOU NO LONGER OWN IT. In fact, when you take no steps to protect the data that flies out of your airwaves and into the public domain, you really have no claim against someone taking it. It’s like finding a $100 bill on an abandoned sidewalk – you can claim it or the next lucky person will. Tom Bradley of PC World agrees:

The lesson for businesses and IT administrators is that you have to put forth some effort to at least give the appearance that you intend for the information to be private in order for there to be any inherent expectation of privacy. The burden should not be on Google, or the general public to have to determine whether the data you let freely fly about unencrypted is meant to be shared or is intended for a specific audience.

The Google story illuminates 5 Business Survival Lessons:

1. This, like so many other business issues, is not a technology problem. The technology to keep out unwanted eyes exists (unless a government wants to tap you) and is accessible and affordable. The problem is human — someone has decided to ignore what they know should be done (especially having read this article)
2. Private information that you fail to protect is no longer your private information (pragmatically and probably even legally).
3. In the marketplace of data, just like in business, it is your responsibility to control what you can. Not everything is in your power, but safe wireless transmissions are. Whether it’s trash in a dumpster, posts on Facebook or wireless signals, the responsibility is yours and your business’s, not just Google’s, Facebook’s and corporate America’s. You must do your part.
4. If you don’t employ at least WPA2 encryption currently on your wireless networks, I can nearly guarantee your data is being watched. And the expense of upgrading is minor compared to the prospect of breach, so lose that excuse.
5. Prevention isn’t sexy, but it’s profitable. Whether your are preventing data leakage, budget shortfalls, or a heart attack, the key is to do the hard work before it happens.

John Sileo is the award-winning author of Stolen Lives and Privacy Means Profit (Wiley, August 2010), a professional Financial Speaker and America’s leading identity theft expert. His clients include the Department of Defense, FTC, FDIC and Pfizer; his recent media appearances include 60 Minutes. Contact him on 800.258.8076.

Related posts:

1. Google Spying Cost Them $1
2. Protect Your Taxes from Prying & Spying Eyes
3. Harvard Identity Theft Has Lessons for CEOs

Wiley & Sons has just announced final details on the release of my latest book, Privacy Means Profit. This book builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publish Date: 8.9.10 (August 9, 2010)
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN-10: 0470583894
ISBN-13: 978-0470583890

Available for Pre-Sale from Amazon

Excerpt: At breakfast on the morning of August 12, 2003, a small and profitable computer company thrived at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. By lunchtime, that same business was on its way to ruin. Within twelve months, thanks to the theft of personal and company information, a forty-year-old family-business-turned-software-startup was doomed and John, heir to the prosperous enterprise, faced the prospect of prison for crimes he didn’t commit.

Beyond the specter of prison time for John, the situation held dire consequences for his family and friends. There was a real threat that his wife and two young daughters might be separated from their husband and daddy if John went to prison. John’s parents, who founded the company in 1964, shouldered most of the financial responsibility for the dying business and experienced declining health from the resulting stress. In the end, the situation would expose a dark secret in John’s close friend, Doug, a recent partner in the business.

Bulletproof your organization against data breach, identity theft, and corporate espionage.

In Privacy Means Profit, John Sileo demonstrates how to keep data theft from destroying your bottom line, both personally and professionally. In addition to sharing his gripping tale of losing $300,000 and his business to data breach, John writes about the risks posed by social media, travel theft, workplace identity theft, and how to keep it from happening to you and your business.

By interlacing his personal experience with cutting-edge research and unforgettable stories, John not only inspires change inside of your organization, but outlines a simple framework with which to build a Culture of Privacy. This book is a must-read for any individual with a Social Security Number and any business leader who doesn’t want the negative publicity, customer flight, legal battles and stock depreciation resulting from data breach.

Protect your net worth and bottom line using the 7 Mindsets of a Spy:

• Eliminate the Source
• Destroy the Data
• Secure the Systems
• Lock the Docs
• Evaluate the Risk
• Interrogate the Enemy
• Monitor the Signs

In this revised edition, John includes an 8th Mindset, Adaptation, which serves as an additional bridge between personal protection and bulletproofing your organization. Privacy Means Profit offers a one-stop guide to protecting what’s most important and most at risk-your essential business and personal data.

Speaking Plugs

http://www.amazon.com/Privacy-Means-Profit-Prevent-Identity/dp/0470583894/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265396264&sr=8-1

Related posts:

1. Privacy Means Profit Barnes & Noble Release
2. How To Control Your Privacy Online
3. 5 Steps to Good Privacy Habits