| Banking online can be a fantastic way to save | | | | Auto complete bar also, it can make it too |
| you time and even money. Most large banks now | | | | easy for someone to log in and guess your |
| offer online banking or online account | | | | password. |
| access, and for the most daring: some banks | | | | |
| are only available online. With the latest in | | | | 3) A good password in very important, also, |
| web safety, these sites are heavily encrypted | | | | using more than one password can be just as |
| and designed to be hack-proof. The largest | | | | valuable. If a hacker, worm, or virus is to |
| cause of accounts being hacked into actually | | | | get into your computer and find a password, |
| falls upon the account holders. There are | | | | they will try that same password in all of |
| several simple steps that can be taken to | | | | your cached login areas. It also helps |
| avoid your account, money, and personal | | | | drastically to use letters and numbers. |
| information being put at risk. Some may seem | | | | Birthdays, pet names, and nicknames also tend |
| simple, but it is better to be safe! | | | | to be easiest to guess. |
| | | | |
| 1) Never give out your username or password. | | | | 4) Never trust any email sent to you that |
| Your bank will not ask you for your password | | | | links directly to your login page. This is |
| or even username. They already have it. They | | | | the number one trick for hackers to "cloak" |
| will not lose it, and only a very select | | | | or "phish" you out of your own private |
| group of employees can even access it. If you | | | | information. Even though the site looks like |
| think you need to address this issue, call | | | | the site you are familiar with, it may not |
| them at the number your normally call, do not | | | | be. These thieves have become experts at |
| take the phone number off an email or a | | | | copying the look of real sites with their own |
| website, look in the phone book or just stop | | | | copies designed to extrapolate victim's bank |
| in at your local branch. | | | | numbers and more! |
| | | | |
| 2) If you access your accounts from more than | | | | By following these steps, you can be |
| one computer, be sure that computers used by | | | | confident that your identity and information |
| others have up-to-date antivirus software. | | | | is still yours and still protected. There are |
| You should also make sure that the machine is | | | | thousands of people and programs trying to |
| running an up to date browser that can | | | | steal your information, but you have plenty |
| support the standard 128-bit encryption used | | | | of tools, people and strategies on your side |
| by most secure websites. When you are done, | | | | also! Go ahead save yourself some time and |
| always be sure to log off and even clear the | | | | gas money! |