7 things you can do to stay safe online

Most of us use the internet every day. We shop online, bank online, network and apply for jobs online. Each of those activities leaves behind a trail of our information. It may not matter if some of that data falls into the wrong hands – but it’s clearly critical to protect anything related to our financial affairs. Here are 7 tips that can help protect your data, privacy, and money online.

We know – you probably have a list of passwords that’s getting longer by the day. That makes it tempting to pick ones that are simple so they’re easy to remember, or to use the same password for multiple sites. Don’t do it!

Your password is the key to all the personal and financial information available on a website after you log in. To make that key as hard to copy as possible:

• Mix letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Avoid easy-to-guess passwords, like your name, names of people in your family, your birthday, your telephone number.
• Avoid real words. Try putting the first few words of a rhyme together with your favourite number (e.g., maryhada3 or hickorydickory8) or use the first letters of each word in a song you like (e.g., Iw2hyh for “I want to hold your hand”)
• Avoid saving your password in your browser.

And, even though this makes managing that long list of passwords harder, it’s also important to change your passwords frequently.

Finished using a website? Sign out and quit your browser. On a shared or public computer, sign out, clear your history in the browser, then quit. For extra security, disconnect from the internet when you don’t need to be connected. 

Every time you open an email attachment, download a file from a website, plug in a USB drive or even insert a CD or DVD, malware (malicious software) can slip into your computer. Once it’s there, it can steal sensitive information or take over the operation of your computer. Anti-virus software scans all data that tries to enter your computer and tells you if it detects a virus. It can also quarantine viruses that are already on your computer to prevent them from spreading.

Keep intruders out with a firewall. This software, hardware, or a mix of both creates a barrier between your computer and the rest of the internet and can prevent attacks on your computer.

The security of your computer and all the personal information it contains is only as good as the security software on your machine, so install updates and patches as soon as they are available. If possible, set your computer to check automatically for operating system and security software (anti-virus and firewall) updates.

Avoid logging in to a website or app on a public Wi-Fi hotspot. These networks are often not secure, so other people may be able to access the information you send across them. To make sure you don’t expose your data without meaning to, make sure your device isn't set up to automatically connect to nearby Wi-Fi. If you must use public Wi-Fi:

• Confirm that the Wi-Fi network is valid with someone who works at the location before you connect.
• Confirm websites or apps you use fully encrypt information from the moment you sign in to the moment you sign out
• Look for the lock symbol on the website or https in front of website addresses – it’s more secure than standard http.
• Sign out as soon as you finish using the website or app and delete your browser history.
• Use unique passwords for different websites.
• Pay attention to warnings from your web browser about fraudulent websites and malware.
• Keep your web browser and security software up to date.
• Use a virtual private network (VPN) to access accounts on public Wi-Fi; available from VPN service providers, virtual private networks encrypt traffic even on networks that aren't secure.

At Manulife Bank, the security of your personal and financial information is one of our top priorities and we invest in high levels of encryption to protect you – but what you choose to do online is important too. For more info, read our mobile banking security tips, and learn more about emerging cyber-threats at Microsoft Secure.