How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

There have many ways to safeguard our personal and financial data. One of the ways is password. Password is a code you create to control people enter in your software or data. It is keeping unauthorized users off the network. The password can consist of numbers or letters (or a combination), up to eight characters in length. The longer the password the more secure the data.

Encryption key also is a way to protect our personal and financial data. The encryption key is a special code we can create that is used to decode our financial data, making it reliable again to those receiving it at the other end. Both we and the receiver must know the encryption key, because it is the only way that you transmitted data can be read. Encryption key is similar with password, it also consist of letter or number (or combination), up to eight characters in length. The longer the code, the more secure your data.

Beside this, we also can install a firewall to safeguard our personal and financial data. A firewall is a software program running on computer, which inspects network traffic passing through it, and denies pr permits passage based on a set of rules. Most computers come with firewalls integrated into their operating system. A firewall’s function within a network is similar to firewall with fire doors in building construction. It is use to prevent network intrusion to the private network.

In addition, install and update antispyware and antivirus program is anther way to safeguard our personal and financial data. Antivirus software are computer program that to identify, neutralize or eliminate malicious software. Nowadays, antivirus software is designed to combat a wide range of threats, including worms, phishing attacks, rootkits, Trojan horses and other malware.

Physical protection is also very important to safeguard our personal and financial data. We need to stop a thief from taking our Mac and browsing its contents. This is where the need for Hardware protection comes in and fortunately it couldn’t be easier to do this. Kensington’s MicroSaver is used to anchor down our Mac and need used with any Mac.

Phishing

Phishing is an act that trying to obtain sensitive information such as credit card number,password , personal information and etc, by imitate legistimate companies in sending false e-mail or link to user. Many cases had happen in pass 10 years which including eBay , PayPal, Citi Group and etc. Phishing is mainly target on financial institute.

Below are some example of phishing e-mail:-

Example of Phishing on HSBC Bank Malaysia.

By clicking the link it will direct customer to the phishing website, as below:

The phishing website is imitate the legistimate companies website ,so when the link direct to the page, if the customer does not aware about the threat and key in the info and summit it. Their infomation will be stolen.

Example of Phishing mail of Maybank.

Maybank has make a security alert to their customer on net during 10/06/08.

Although, phishing scam is always around , but if we make extra alert on the situation we might not be the victim. Prevent on the scam is necessary as it threat to our sensitive info .The following can use as method of prevent phishing:


1. Do not trust any online communication ( eg. e-mai, web) as the bank or financial institute will not ask for personal infomation through web or e-mail. They usually will doing updating or confirmation of information through letter. If you are not sure, to trust on the site, make a call to the relevant company or institute for confimation on the website.


2. Check the URL link before clicking on it, make sure the link is the actual link of the companies.If it is a phishing, the URL link will appear in unusual link other than actual company's link and the page is not in a secured page as bottom of the page will show a padlock.

3. Think twice before enter any sensetive and personal information. Be alert that, when someone asking for information. Ask others about the situation face, as others may give advice on that.


4. Keep up-to-date with the latest security patches. For those who engage in online financial transactions must have the personal fireware and security software ( with anti-virus, anti-spam and spyware ).

The threat of online security: How safe is our data?

Internet is become more and more popular in world wide. Human are become more and more rely to the computer. We can find much information through the internet. However, internet is not a safe place for the web users. Every unprotected online computer can be affected with the viruses, malware, adware, hackers’ attacks and Trojans with only in 20 minutes. On the internet, there are numerous security risks that can lead the web users to serious financial loss, information theft and the attack on web user’s computer. The common online security threats include the following.

The most common online security threat is viruses. A virus in the computer is a program or programming code that replicates by being copied or initiating its copying to another program, computer boot sector or document. Through attachments to an e-mail note or in a downloaded file, viruses can be transmitted. Besides, it may also present on a diskette or CD. Some of the viruses may wreak their effect as soon as their code is executed. While, others viruses may lie dormant until circumstances cause their code to be executed by the computer. Moreover, some of the virus can be quite harmful, erasing data or causing your hard disk to require reformatting. A virus replicates itself by resending itself as an e-mail attachment or as part of a network message is known as a worm.

Spyware is another online security threat. It is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the internet, spyware is a programming that is put in someone’s computer to secretly gather information about the user and spread it to advertisers and other interested parties. A software virus or installing a new program may create an opportunity for spyware to get in to the computer.

Adware is any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen. Besides, adware can usually be thought of as spyware as well because it almost invariably includes components for tracking and reporting user information.

Malware is any program or file that is harmful to a computer user. Thus, malware includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and also spyware, programming that gathers information about a computer user without permission. Furthermore, it can hijack your browser, redirect your search attempts, serve up nasty pop-up ads, track what web sites you visit, and generally screw things up. Moreover, it usually is poorly-programmed and can cause your computer to become unbearably slow and unstable in addition to all the other havoc they wreak.

Hackers are a term used by some to mean “a clever programmer” and by other, especially those in popular media, to mean “someone who tries to break into computer systems.” It also describes someone who attempts to break into computer systems. This kind of hacker has the sufficient technical knowledge to understand the weak points in a security system and act maliciously.

A Trojans horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. One of the most insidious types of Trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer.

With the specialized hackings tools and scripts that are special designed, the unprotected computer may be attacked. So being a web user, it is very important that web user to learn something about the common online threats. Besides, the web users should learn some protection against these few threat that we have just discussed. So that, our important data and information can be protected from theft and does not causes us financial loss.

Third Party Certification Programme

One of the trusted third party certification programs in Malaysia is VeriSign®. VeriSign® is the trusted provider of internet infrastructure services for the digital world. Billions of companies and consumers relies on their internet infrastructures to communicate and conduct commerce with confidence. VeriSign® is the leading Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate Authority enabling secure e-commerce, communications, and interactions for Web sites, intranets, and extranets.
SSL technology protects business’s Web site and makes it easy for the Web site visitors to trust the Web Site in three ways. The first is through encryptions, SSL certificate enables encryption of sensitive information during online transaction. Encryption scrambles the data, creating an envelope for message privacy. Thus, blocking out any unauthorized access to the information.
Next is through authentication. SSL Certificate is able to authenticate a secure website because each Every VeriSign® SSL Certificate is created for a particular server in a specific domain for a verified business entity. So if the business is verified, by clicking the closed padlock in the browser window or certain SSL trust marks (such as the VeriSign Secured® Seal), the Web site visitor will see the authenticated organization name.
Lastly is verification,an SSL Certificate is issued by a trusted source, known as the Certificate Authority (CA). Many CAs simply verify the domain name and issue the certificate. VeriSign verifies the existence of business, the ownership of business domain name, and business’s authority to apply for the certificate.
By implementing these third party certification programme in Malaysia, it can reduces online fraud and promote online transaction as the consumers would not have to worry about fraudulent web sites. This will also enable the consumers to have confidence when doing online transaction as there is trusted certification.