Protection From Identity Theft

Identify theft has become a rampant problem in today's world. Most of us are familiar with the basic precautions needed to protect ourselves: shredding identifying documents, changing passwords frequently, and keeping PIN numbers separate from our ATM cards. Many of us now take out identity theft protection provided by specialist companies like Lifelock.
Becoming a business owner means taking on a whole new set of responsibilities. One of the largest, but most frequently overlooked, is that of customer data safety. Your customers trust you with their credit card numbers, home addresses, perhaps even social security numbers and mother's maiden name. Thieves know this. Owning a home-based business makes you an especially attractive target for burglary as the thief, in effect, can rob two places for the price of one-your home and your business.
Protecting yourself from break-ins is outside the scope of this article. However, some simple tips can prevent your customers' data from falling into the wrong hands. Learn all you can about the history of identity theft, the more you know why they want the info, the easier to protect against. Security begins with files that are kept on your computer. Use a password to protect your desktop, even if you are the only one who normally has access to your system. A good password utilizes both letters and numbers, and is difficult to guess. Should the computer be stolen, the information contained within will still be protected. Especially sensitive documents can be individually password protected within many software programs. Before selling or trashing your computer, invest in a high quality Wipe program that will eliminate all traces of data from the hard drive. Hackers often steal junked computers or buy them from pawnshops in hopes of tracing residual information.
Back up all files regularly to a separate drive, that is separately protected. Options include an external hard drive that can be locked in a safe, or even miniature flash drives that can be clipped to a keychain. In that way, if your main computer is stolen, you will still have access to your customer records.
Be exceptionally scrupulous about your internet connection. A firewall and top quality antivirus software are critical. Be sure to set your firewall and antivirus software to automatically update on a regular basis-no less than once per week. The firewall will prevent unauthorized people from accessing your personal details and protect you from hackers.
All operating systems, internet connections, and software applications have inherent security weaknesses. Hackers know and exploit these weaknesses. Your best offense is an active defense. Set your programs, particularly your operating system, to update automatically. Many of the updates are designed to fix security problems. By utilizing your firewall and automatically updating your programs, you will go a long way toward defending your customers' information.
If you plan to have customers submit any form of personal data to you through your website, and especially if you offer online ordering, your website must be secure. Secure Socket Layering is the technical name of encryption software that scrambles the data as it is transmitting, thus preventing the data from falling into the wrong hands. Speak with your web hosting company for details on adding SSL to your site. This is one expense that you simply must bear, as non-SSL transmissions are easily viewable by others on the internet.
Protecting your customers' information is actually relatively simple. Practice standard identity protection procedures for your clients as well as yourself. These procedures, combined with SSL for secure ordering, regular backing up of files, and password protection, will provide an excellent defense for your customers' information. Continually updated firewall and antivirus software complete the package. Implement these steps from the beginning, and they will become a habit.

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