Before Your Next Vacation: Secure your realworld and cyberworld

Remember way back when you were a kid and you were going on vacation?  Our parents used to have the mail stopped and used to set up those timer devices to the lamps so that it would look like you were home when the lamps would turn on and off by themselves? Fast forward 20+ years and we have all forgotten those lessons and cybercriminals are cashing in!
I will never forget logging on to a hotel’s free wifi and within two minutes getting an alert from my firewall letting me know that “tiger1973” was trying to connect to my computer. I freaked out and slammed my laptop shut. Amen for a firewall, right? Had it not been there, I may never have known what had happened until I got my credit card or bank statement the following month!
Our parents only had to secure their home; we on the other hand have to secure both our home and our cyberworld.
Tips to keep in mind:
1. Secure your home, make sure it doesn’t look like you are away, have a trusted neighbor clear mail and stop newspaper delivery.
2. Never post that you will be away when you don’t personally know all your “friends”. Check privacy settings on your favorite social networking sites to make sure you aren’t sharing status updates with the world. Never post your home address (continue reading...)