Clear Books Must reads | January 2015

10 ways to keep your online data secure

Making sure your online data is safe has never been more important.

Over half (51%) of respondents to a recent survey, said they had been

the victim of some form of cybercrime including fraud, identity theft and

hacking — leading to losses of over £670 million per year.

Clear Books Must reads | January 2015

1. Monitor your social media privacy settings:

It’s easy to accidentally reveal too much on social

media. Your date of birth, where and when

you’re going on holiday or pictures of the really

expensive computer you recently bought can all

be a goldmine for potential scammers or thieves.

Spend a few minutes updating your privacy

settings to make sure you’re not giving away more

than you would like.

2. Set up two email addresses:

No matter how few companies you give your email

address out to, you can’t be sure where it’ll end up.

If you’ve received an email that doesn’t look quite

right never click on the links. It’s a good idea to

have two email addresses: one for private emails

(banking, social media, friends and family) and one

for promotional emails — making it easier to spot

anything unusual.

At Clear Books we ensure your data is stored safely in our cloud and regularly evaluate and enhance our

security features so you can rest easy that your information is safe. Here are some other tips for keeping

your data secure and preventing your personal information from getting into the wrong hands:

3. Use a password keeper:

Using the same password everywhere is one of

the most dangerous things you can do online —

especially if it’s ‘password123’. When creating a

password use a combination of letters, numbers

and symbols and try not to use recognisable words.

They can be a pain to keep track of but services

like https://lastpass.com/ or https://clipperz.is/

can securely remember them for you. However if

you forget that password they really will be gone

forever.

Data security

Clear Books Must reads | January 2015

4. Be careful with public wi-fi networks:

If you log on to a public wi-fi network in your local cafe, pub or train station, hackers can find out all sorts

of personal information within a few moments, for example: https://medium.com/matter/heres-why-

public-wifi-is-a-public-health-hazard-dd5b8dcb55e6. If you do use public wi-fi make sure your settings are

secure and always make sure you know who owns the network. Here are more tips to stay safe:

http://www.lifehacker.co.uk/2014/11/18/stay-safe-public-wi-fi-networks,

6. Protect your system:

To prevent unwanted traffic, the very first thing you

should do is enable the firewall on your operating

system.You should also install anti-virus software

which ‘patrols’ your computer by constantly

checking for threats and suspicious activity. Make

sure you also install all available updates for

your operating system and programmes, further

reducing the risk of being hacked or loopholes

being exploited.

7. Back up everything:

In case of fire or your hard drive crashing you need

to make sure that all of your files are backed up

elsewhere. Cloud services including Clear Books

keep your information safe in an external data

centre where your information is encrypted for

added protection. You can also use an external

hard drive or your own personal server. Make sure

you enable encryption on these devices and check

the security features of any cloud service you use.

If you’re asked to submit sensitive information

such as passwords or payment details make

sure the site is secure. You can verify if the site is

safe by checking that the url begins with ‘https://’

and looking for the padlock icon in the address

bar at the top of your screen.

5. Check for a secure connection:

Clear Books Must reads | January 2015

8. Be cautious with USB sticks:

Be cautious with USB sticks: With cloud sharing

becoming more prevalent, the need for USBs is

decreasing. If you do need to use one then avoid:

sharing, storing sensitive information, or giving

them away. USBs are also an easy way for viruses

to be installed on your system without your

knowledge.This article goes into more detail:

http://www.wired.com/2014/07/usb-security/

They’re also very easy to lose.

10. Be shady yourself:

Other simple tricks to reduce online risk

include: browsing in incognito or private mode

or even using anonymous browser Tor; taking

advantage of websites that let you check out as an

anonymous guest; and providing fake information

to security questions like ‘what’s your mother’s

maiden name?’ — just make sure you remember

the false answer yourself.

9. Secure empty your trash:

Have you ever wondered where your deleted

items actually go? Well, the answer is — nowhere.

They’re just ‘marked for trash’.The file doesn’t

move even when you empty your trash; it gets

gradually overwritten by other files but is still

recoverable. Macs have a built in ‘secure empty’

option which actively overwrites the file with

zeros. If you use a PC, apps such as Eraser can

perform this function.

We hope this factsheet has been helpful

to you. If you have any questions about

how we at Clear Books ensure the safety

of your data, just give our support team a

call on +44 (0)20 3475 4744 or email:

support@clearbooks.co.uk