How to safeguard our personal and financial data

Nowadays, most people rely on computers especially the Internet to create, store and manage critical information. But the Internet is no longer a safe place. Information transmitted over the Internet is more vulnerable and has a higher degree of security risk than internal networks because they are open to anyone. Hackers have ability to intercept and use that information, such as credit card numbers and expiry dates, to falsely do transactions. Therefore, protecting yourself from predators and theft on the Internet is very important to prevent our privacy information from exposure. The following are some suggestion to safeguard our personal and financial data.


1. Password Protection
Do not choose a password and PINs that is easily guessed, like your telephone number, date of birth, IC number, or other associated data. You should select a robust and unique PINs to make it difficult for anyone to guess. Do not use sequential numbers (e.g. 123456) or the same number
more than twice (776790). Do not share or divulge your password to anyone. Memories your password. Do not write down your password or store it in computer hard-disk, diskette, mobile phone or other insecure means. Do not use your password when someone else can see you keying it in. Change your PINs regularly. Change your password immediately if you suspect it has been exposed to others or the moment you suspect any unauthorized access to your computer.

2. Always log off your online session
Log off your online session whenever you leave your computer, even for a short while. This immediately ends yours iBanking session and prevents further transactions from being when not carried out without a fresh login. You should also shut down your computer, when not in use, to prevent unauthorized access to your computer.

3. Do not disclose your personal data to suspected websites
To prevent your personal information frodisclose your m being captured by bogus websites, you should not disclose your personal, financial or credit card information to little-known or suspected websites. The best way to protect our financial and personal data is by conducting the transaction with trusted, well known online retailers that using the reputable payment processors like Paypal or Google Checkout.

4. Protect your computer from viruses and malicious programs Apart from destroying important data on your computer, viruses or malicious programs such as Trojan Horse may run a password sniffing program in the background to capture your password keystrokes without your knowledge. Being constantly online may increase your risk exposure for your computer. To avoid getting infected, you should:

• Never download any file from sites (e.g. program, game, picture, mp3 song) or people (e.g. email attachments) that you aren't sure about.
• Delete junk or chain emails.
• Never use features in your programs that automatically get or preview files.
• Install firewall and virus detection software to protect against hackers, virus attacks or malicious "Trojan Horse" programs. You should also update your software's virus definition frequently.

5. Check your account and transaction history details regularly Always check your transaction history details and statement regularly to make sure that all details are updated and there are no unauthorized transactions on your accounts.