Broadband

The so called information age that we live in today has many benefits. These benefits basically boil down to speed. We can get things down faster than ever before. This might mean we can watch the latest movie on demand or that we can process our new passport in 14 days. If you think back to even the 1970’s, it would take years before you could watch the latest movies in your own home or months to get a new passport. Having information and being able to process it efficiently are the cornerstone of the information age but these benefits can also be subverted for criminal purposes. Identity theft utilizes the information about a person to commit crime and it seems to be a growth industry as more people spend time on the Internet and shop online.

Identity theft can take many forms but it can be split into two types. I call these low tech. identity theft and high tech. identity theft.

Low tech. identity theft is nothing short of common or garden theft. It could mean going through someones trash for personal details. It is not so hard to prevent identity theft of this sort. Shred all letters that you plan to throw out (or rip them up if you don’t have a shredder). Above all, become aware of the value that your personal information has to criminals and be wary about how it is used.

High tech. theft is harder to guard against as it involves technology. Computer hackers or ingenious phishing scams are often hard to recognize however there are simple guidelines to follow. The first is to have the latest virus, firewall and spyware software installed on your computer. This should protect you from most hackers. Never open any attachments sent via email from people you don’t know. Never give personal information away based on an email request. This is known as phishing and is a way to steal your identity. Identity theft prevention is 90% common sense. Adhere to these guidelines and you should be ok.