Five easy steps you need to take to protect your online info

With news that the web flaw called the “Heartbleed” may have compromised security on as much as two-thirds of the entire Internet, and word of a privacy breach on the Canada’s tax-filing site, McMaster’s tech security manager says there are straightforward steps you can take to protect yourself.

“We have come to rely on the Internet for a lot of our everyday lives,” says Richard Godsmark, Director of Technology Innovation, Partnerships and Risk Management with McMaster’s University Technology Services (UTS). “You shop online, conduct banking and pay bills. You share personal and financial information that needs to be protected.”

Godsmark’s top five tips to protect yourself now:

1. Change your password now, and change it often. Emerging information about the previously undetected Heartbleed flaw suggests that it has been around for more than two years, so all passwords are at risk.

2. Get “smart” – Smart passwords are far more secure than simple passwords. Use a combination of upper-case and lower-case letters and numbers.

3. Keep an eye on your books – check your secure online banking, credit-card and other accounts involving financial transactions regularly to be sure there has been no unauthorized activity.

4. Trust but verify – develop good habits in your Internet use, including verifying that the sites you visit are secure.

5. Don’t get “phished” – be wary of “phishing” emails that ask you to provide personal information and account numbers.