October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and Experian’s ProtectMyID® issued its new survey results about cybersecurity. The study, conducted by Edelman Berland, reveals areas where consumers’ identities are the most at risk, including electronic devices and online accounts. The findings show that 93 percent of respondents believe that identity theft is a growing problem yet are not doing enough to address the issue.
“Most people recognize that identity theft presents a problem that could affect them financially but don’t take steps to protect themselves,” said Becky Frost, senior manager of consumer education for Experian’s ProtectMyID. “Identity thieves use data as their commodity, selling it to the highest bidder, or for personal gain, so it’s important for consumers to protect their personal information.
Consumers overwhelmingly report taking steps to protect their physical and digital information, but 33 percent still do not feel confident that they are doing enough to protect their identities. In fact, 73 percent say they are concerned that they could be affected by identity theft in the future, and 90 percent note that people should be more concerned about identity theft.
Take greater control when securing your personal information with these helpful tips:
- Change passwords on a regular basis
- Avoid sharing personally identifying information, such as your full birth date, on social networks
- Avoid using public Wi-Fi hotspots that make it easy for thieves to hack into the information stored on your mobile devices
- Password-protect your phone since it provides access to sensitive information and accounts
- Enable remote location and wiping software to track your phone if it’s lost or stolen, allowing to wipe all of the data from it
- Review credit reports regularly, and watch for signs of fraud
- Consider enrolling in identity-protection monitoring, and take action if you receive alerts that your identity could be compromised
Check out what else these respondents said in the complete summary of our survey results here: