Originally published 04/08/2011 at lubbockonline.com
The breach at Epsilon has started discussion on how serious having your email address stolen really is. The fact is, having your email address stolen is as dangerous as you allow it to be. To help with keep the danger level down, here are some things you can do to protect yourself:
1. Don't click on links in email. If you want to go to the site, type in the URL in your browser yourself. With HTML email it is childs play to disguise an email as being from someone you trust and hide malicious links behind what looks like a legitimate link.
2. Use the latest version of Firefox for your web browser. You can argue over what is the most secure browser, but Firefox has some very handy addons.
3. Once you have Firefox, there are two very helpful addons: https-everywhere and NoScript. Noscript can be found using the Firefox addons and https everywhere can be downloaded from the eff.org website.
4. Update your software.
5. Keep your mouth shut and your fingers off the keyboard. Before you give anyone any information about yourself, think about whether you need to.
6. Open a garbage email account. Give it to websites that require you to register. Use your main email account for friends and family.
7. Install anti-virus and anti-spyware and keep them updated.
These are just a few of the things you can do to protect your identity online, but they are a good start.
updated to add important information
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