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Be safe online

By Leaine Brebner

24 Sep 2013

Never become complacent about online security. We are reminded of this fact, once again, with the news that ratepayers' personal information was exposed in August 2013, due to the City of Joburg's website security issues.

"The City of Joburg decided to open a criminal case against the person who "hacked into its billing system".

It is debatable whether the incident can be described as a hacking. In fact, a security analyst told MyBroadband that the security flaw is a very common mistake made by developers.

He said that the City of Joburg's security flaw points to a lack of knowledge about online security, sloppy design, and a poor security evaluation of a system. See: Joburg hacking case: why you may get angry

The bottom line is that when you give your personal information to someone online, you trust them with your identity, but as the security analyst pointed out, you cannot trust anyone online as sometimes the mistake occurs as far back as the developmental phase. Even if this is not the case, there seems to be a general lack of knowledge about online security.

So what can you do about it?

Here are some tips to stay safer online.

Have more than one email address. With two email addresses you can separate all your online activities into two "security levels". One email address can be for confidential use, such as correspondence with your internet banking and anything you don't want exposed. The second address can be for general use like Facebook, so if it ever becomes compromised you never have to worry that someone has gained access to financial information. You can also sign up for free addresses with Gmail to use on sites you suspect may be less than trustworthy.

Don't use the same password for everything. With so many online services, it's easy to use the same password because it is easy to remember, but this also means that if someone learns your password by hacking one of the services you subscribe to, or just peeking over your shoulder when you type it in, they can potentially access every service you use that password for.

Make your passwords secure. A good password contains numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and is at least eight characters long. Common bad passwords include "password", "123456", "qwerty" and "abc123". Your birth date, names of your children and pets should also be avoided. If you're a football fan, a few guesses can quickly figure out that your password is "arsenal".

Don't log in to anything on a public computer. Public computers are often riddled with viruses and anything you type can potentially be stored somewhere for someone to access and exploit. If you have to log in to something on an untrustworthy computer, at least make sure you don't let the browser "remember your password" and don't forget to log out when you leave.

Limit how much information you put online. Just because a site has a section for you to enter your address, contact numbers and other information doesn't mean you need to enter it.

Keep your credit card information safe. If you use an online shopping account where your credit card information is saved for future purchases, it can potentially be exploited if that website is compromised. Whenever you use your credit card online, make sure that the connection is secure (it should have https in front of the address). You could also get a new credit card that you only use for online purchases. Set up low limits on the card so that if the details are stolen, the damage will be minimal.

Of course following these tips still can't prevent your information from being compromised, when a website is not setup securely from the get-go, but they can at least minimise the damage. In the modern world, anything you put online is open to be used and exploited, but that's no reason not to do it. Keep your wits about you and you'll stay safe, as long as you don't go overboard exposing yourself.