Firefox: Firesheep sniffs out and steals cookies — and the account and identity of the owner in the process — of popular websites from the browsing sessions of other users on the Wi-Fi hotspot you’re attached to. More »
Losing your passport while travelling abroad is a massive headache. Keep your passport stashed and safe by using a photocopy for identification outside of official border crossings. More »
Windows: Many of you probably encrypt a lot of your more sensitive data, but you may not realise that you have more than you think. Identity Finder shows you all the vulnerable information on your drive, like credit card numbers and passwords. More »
According to a study conducted by computer security company Sophos, 41 to 46 percent of users they test-requested friendship with on Facebook accepted their invitation. The problem, as they see it: After becoming friends with people they don’t know, they’ve got access to full dates of birth, email addresses, the places they went to school, the town in which they live, and a lot more—basically a whole lot of the things an identity theft would need to get the ball rolling. More »
Identity theft and the loss of personal data often come across as peculiarly impersonal crimes committed by shadowy gangs from countries you never heard of in geography class. But while protecting against those threats with regular updates and solid anti-virus tools is important, you also need to think about how personal information can be abused by people you actually know. More »
Identity theft happens, which is why knowing how to safely cut and discard your expired credit cards is worth knowing. Money weblog Wallet Pop offers their take on how to do so properly. More »
Financial blogger J.D. Roth was recently the victim of mail theft, including some tax documents. After reporting the theft to the postal service, Roth received a flyer from the Federal Trade Commission with techniques for fighting identity theft. Instead of giving the thieves the opportunity to cash in on any sensitive information they may have obtained, Roth followed every step of the FTC’s flier, which takes a three-pronged approach to identity theft prevention: Deter, Detect, and Defend. For each step, the FTC provides smart steps you can take to keep yourself secure (deter), methods for staying alert in the event someone does steal your personal information (detect), and tips for dealing with a theft that has already occurred (defend). For more, check out the FTC’s official identity theft site. How to Prevent Identity Theft — Deter, Detect, Defend [Get Rich Slowly]
