Recently, there’s been a lot of news of people finding fraudulent iTunes purchases on their credit card or PayPal bill. These purchases are part of international criminal enterprise based on users poor passwords.
You can protect yourself, but it requires solid and secure passwords and some common, or maybe uncommon sense. Your grandson’s name, your anniversary date, your dog’s name (yes, I used that about 15 years ago, for a minute) just won’t keep you safe.
The worst part is that a a lot of passwords are obtained by phishing scams. In other words, users are giving out their passwords through emails, websites offering great deals, buying unauthorized iTunes gift codes online, and the like.
So, how to protect yourself? First, be very careful indeed who you give your login and passwords to. Good practice is to give them ONLY to the company they are for… period.
Secondly, use more secure passwords. Yeah, I know, you can’t remember ‘em. Neither can I. I use a great application that keeps track of all my passwords, bank and credit card info, and other vital information. It’s called 1Password, and it can change your life.
If you’re interested, contact me if you have questions. I have no relation with 1Password or the authors, Agile Web Solutions. I just love the product, and so do my clients. I’d be happy to help you get set up. Oh, there’s an iPhone/iPad version, too. And browser plugins, so with the click of a button, you can access all those passwords, and you can have identity and other information automatically filled into web forms. I keep several identities, business, personal, just-looking-don’t-bother-me, and so forth.
Agile also makes Knox, a great way to keep data secure on your Mac, especially on a laptop that may be stolen. Check it out!
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