debcook

The news of Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account being hijacked has peaked my attention towards my own online accounts. I am always on the go and I access several types of online accounts daily. Although I feel pretty Internet savvy I’m sure I could improve my security across the board.

I am very careful about what sites I access on my iPhone. As far as that goes I am very careful about my discussions over my iPhone. There is no privacy and too many people forget that.

I use my laptop daily. I connect to the Internet most everyday as well. Lack of fear is normal until something bad happens. We hear the preaching but we seldom subscribe to the message.

This is not the first time that I have thought about online security. I own an ID Vault. I carry it in my bag all the time – but guess what. I have not used it much since the first day I set it up.

It is small, convenient and easy to use. It is even pretty cool looking. When the retractable USB plug is not in use the device looks like a small pad lock. A push on the top pops the USB plug out and a small yellow button on the back lets it retract again. It would be so easy to use. It would improve my security so much. So why don’t I use it more?

Time – or more like the lack of it. Hurrying from one task to the other leaves us so vulnerable. The bad guys know this. They have nothing better to do than to profit from the trust of others.

Do you know what an ID Vault is? I can’t say that I know everything about how it works but I do know that it stores my login information for any site that I enter into the software. It only works on a computer that has the software installed on it. Any site that requires a login activates the ID Vault. A pop up box asks whether I want to login in using the ID Vault. I am given the choice to say yes or no. I can easily add new accounts to it at anytime.

My ID Vault would improve my security anywhere but I will always use it when I am on an un-secured WiFi network. My login information is applied through the device so there is no data available for a hacker to get hold of. Hard to guess passwords are still important. The ID Vault has the advantage of having a great memory so the passwords can be more complicated.

It is always best to not enter personal login information while on an unsecured network but get real – most of us will chance it to read our email. If you must enter your password go ahead but change your password afterwards – just to be safe.