How to Protect Yourself from a Data Breach

Two years ago I was on our first official beach vacation with my family – I logged into my mobile banking app to check for a deposit from work, and noticed a weird charge for over $80.. I immediately called my bank to find out that this was a breach in security with the card company. They said most likely somewhere someone had stole my information, and was spending my money! The bank immediately froze my account, and cancelled my debit card! Thankfully I had a credit card with me, (as well as my parents) but what if I had relied just on the one card for our travels? This was only on day 2 of 10. I can’t imagine the trouble I would of went through being over 1,000 miles from our credit union.
It seems like these days you can’t be too careful – with the recent breaches within Target, Anthem, and other large companies, it’s understandable to be weary of using your bank or credit card information.The scary thing is not only do they get access to our credit card and make fraudulent charges, but they also can gain access to personal information such as your address, birthdays and socials – which can open up a whole other can of worms.

Even if you do everything right – there is still the possibility that your information could be compromised. But, if you take these steps, you can keep the chance of a security breach very slim!

1. Changing your user account passwords, along with your security questions every 60 days or so as a safeguard.
2. Require validation on online orders – like your address and phone number, before they will authorize a payment or shipping.
3. Monitor all your transactions for fraudulent activity – even credit cards you don’t use often. On card that you use regularly, be sure to check each individual transaction.
4. Installing firewalls to monitor connections, as wella s anti-virus software and be sure to keep it regularly updated.
5. Store confidential information such as socials, credit card information, etc, in a encrypted database, preferably one without internet.
6. Never send or request confidential information thru e-mail or other online chat features. If you receive a request, always call to submit the information instead of sending via e-mail.
7. Sign up for LifeLock Services. LifeLock gives people confidence to live freely in this day of being connected online 24/7. They are the leading provider of proactive identity theft services. LifeLock provides alerts that scan the financial networks to help identify potential threats before any damage can be done. LifeLock gives you the opportunity to confirm your identity before a new credit card, cell phone, or any type of loan is opened with your information. LifeLock is so confident that you’ll love their services that they offer a $1 Million Total Service Guarantee