Let’s Not Talk about CyberSecurity

Friends have asked me (since I’m an official nerd), whether I blocked credit agencies from reporting on my credit to potential lenders to assure that new accounts are not opened by imposters pretending to be me. Blocking makes it harder for someone to use your ss# for identity theft; but, since you give part of your ss# to request a block, you give the credit agencies even more information about you which might be exposed in a future breach. I’m not telling what I did.

Following the Equifax breach, Facebook is ablaze with security discussions as are other online forums. Here’s some free advice: Don’t post what you decided to do about your credit! Don’t say online whether or not you’ve stopped credit checks at the rating agencies.

Either way you make yourself an easier mark for those who want to steal your identity. If you’ve blocked opening new accounts, they can say that when they pretend to be you and work on getting the unlock pin or convincing someone to give credit without it. If you haven’t stopped new accounts, then they know to go after you directly. Information about you is what hackers need; don’t post it online!

While we’re at it, don’t say online what kind of home security system you use. Don’t helpfully review your home security system on Amazon or your blog. Don’t rate your home security installer any way but anonymously (and how do you know if you’re anonymous?) Why tell hackers or burglars what technology they’re dealing with? I’m not sure the decals like “protected by ADT” are a good idea since they give useful information. Maybe just “Very well-protected. While you were reading this your picture went to the cloud!”. I’m still wrestling with how to blog about my expanded home security system without compromising our security.

For good advice on dealing with the Equifax breach see Wired for Safety: How to deal with the Equifax security breach on VTDigger; it’s part of a weekly column on cybersecurity by the very knowledgeable digital forensics faculty at Champlain College.