Sofie Klapow- Blog Post 4

            Identity theft is the fraudulent acquisition and use of a person’s private information.  Identity theft is a widely occurring problem and in recent years has become even easier with the help of the computer.  People are very susceptible to identity theft and may actually be making things easier for criminals without being aware of it.  Common sources of identity theft include personal info on computers, personal info in trash, the Internet and the information we provide. Computers tend to have a large amount of sensitive information on them. People sometimes don’t realize that once this information is on your computer someone could possibly use it for their benefit. When looking at any random persons computer one might find their full name, their birthday, and their passwords. Another example of something that is sometimes stored on a computer is your tax forms. Tax forms not only hold you full name and birthday but also your social security number and information about your family.  Personal info in trash is also another common source of identity theft.  I throw out information about myself all the time like most people do. In my room at home, I have my social security number written out on a piece of paper. If I were to throw that out anyone could find it and use it.  Most of the time when you throw your trash out you don’t realize that all of that information could be taken and used by someone else. Another common source of identity theft is the Internet. Social media websites like Facebook, and twitter are all home to very personal information. If someone were to look on my Facebook right now they would find my full name, my birthday, my family member and personal pictures. Social media isn’t the only place on the web that personal info is stored. Anytime you put personal info into any website this information is then stored and it may or may not be stored securely.  This can also be said for any information we provide anywhere.  Everyday you provide people with personal information that has the potential to be leaked and used for identity theft.

Passwords are very important when it comes to personal security and protecting yourself against fraud. A password is phrase or word that must be used to gain access to any account or system that a person may have. A strong passphrase can stop almost anyone from hacking into your accounts.  A few years ago my email was hacked. Someone had found out my password and was sending out random emails to every single person on my contacts list. I luckily realized what was going on and changed my password. This experience helped me to learn that having a strong password is very important. When it comes to passwords it is important to change them often. The longer a person has a password the more susceptible it is to being revealed.  You should also try and use different passphrases for different thing. This way if someone figures out one of your passwords they don’t have access to all of your accounts. There are hundred of websites that make it very easy for you to figure out how to have a strong passphrase and protect your personal security. There are a lot of things that people can do to protect themselves from identity theft. The easiest thing you can do to protect yourself is to just be careful with were you put personal information and always try your hardest to keep it secure.