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6 Jun 2011 By Aingham86

Best Identity Protection Measures For Homes And Businesses

6 Jun

A Complete Guide To Identity Protection Measures For Homes And Businesses To Ensure Protection No Matter Where You Are.

Whether you are running your own business or just using the Internet for personal reasons, having your identity stolen can seem like it is the end of the world. One of the best ways to protect yourself is by not having anything online that could help someone pretend to be you. However, this is not always feasible so it leads to looking for other ways to protect your identity.

Some of the software can cost a lot of money but when you also consider the amount of money that it can save you, can you really complain? But if you are looking for software for a personal computer, you may want something that is more affordable. For a business, on the other hand, you will need something that not only offers you the protection but any other details that you have stored on your databases, and both personal and business options are explained below.

Protection for Personal Computers

Sometimes, your antivirus protection could protect your identity from being stolen. AVG’s paid antivirus software, for example, is able to offer identity protection. It uses a military-grade encryption process which will keep all of your files away from prying eyes. It doesn’t stop you from being able to share your photos and music with your friends.

You could even look at opting for the family version, which will protect up to three computers and will block the dangerous sites. This can help protect your children’s identity without them even realizing.

ZoneAlarm is another type of antivirus software, which also has identity protection included. It can use the anti-spyware part of the program to be able to block at threatening websites and disable any of the programs that have been designed to take your personal details. You will also be given monthly reports and alerts to the websites or people that are after your identity.

For a little extra money each year, you could have protection through the use of Panda Global Protection. This is one of the most up-to-date versions of the software and is able to offer improved protection for your identity.

The firewall through this software is able to block any hackers, even through your wireless connection and the Collective Intelligence component is able to protect you even if you haven’t been attacked yet – as soon as the threat is noticed somewhere, all of the customers are protected.

Protection for Businesses

Running a business means that not only your details need to be protected, but that all of the details of your customers or clients will need protecting too. This will mean not looking at parental controls but looking at data protection.

Norton 360 Premier offers protection from all different types of computer and identity attacks, including phishing attacks and Trojan horses. The software will not slow down your computer, so you will be able to continue with your workload even while you are being protected.

A big problem for businesses is that technology is constantly being replaced. However, even deleting the files will not completely remove them from your hard disk. For software to completely remove the files, you will need a program like Avanquest's DISKExtinguisher, which will removed IDs, passwords and all of the files stored onto the computer that you are either selling on or destroying. This can keep your customers’ and clients’ details safe from those who either buy your computer or take the hard drive.

SystemSuitePro is also able to offer the ability to clear all of the data on a hard disk. This will act in the form of a shredder and can remove a high volume of information at the same time. Also, while all of the data is stored on the computer, the software will protect it by encrypting everything; even if a hacker does get into the computer, your customers’ and clients’ details cannot be read.

Help Yourself With Internet Security

No matter what software you have on your computer, it is still very important that you consider a few factors. The most important factor is the type of website that you are one and what their protection is like.

For instance, you should only give your credit card details over a secure connection. This will have a locked padlock in the bottom right hand corner and will also have https as part of the address rather than http.

Also, social networking sites have made it very easy for identities to be stolen. There are still problems with having your full name on the Internet, although these problems are becoming smaller. However, these networking sites allow you to put your full date of birth, address and phone number; all answers to many security questions, especially with your bank. To really protect your identity and privacy, limit the amount of information that is available to the world.