Jason Romanoff protects his online identity with a football, but he doesn’t spell it that way. He prefers using a mix of alpha, numeric and special characters: F00+b@!!
Romanoff is an ecommerce fraud analyst for Bryn Mawr Trust. He recently shared his idea with members of the Chadds Ford Business Association during a presentation on combating identity theft at the group’s November luncheon. He uses the unique approach for one of his online accounts, but he wouldn’t say which one.
Mixing upper and lower case text, along with numbers and special characters makes it more difficult for hackers to steal user names and passwords. The more difficult the encryption, the better, Romanoff said. Mixing characters slows down the hackers.
He added that people should never store their login information — usernames and passwords — on the device where that information would be needed. Also, change passwords frequently.
For a long time, Mac users were safe from online hacking, but that has changed, he said. There are groups in China that are specifically working on getting into the Apple systems.
According to Romanoff, almost 12 million Americans experienced at least one type of identity theft in a two-year period. While 42 percent of the victims spend a day or less to resolve problems, 3 percent experience difficulties for six month or more.
He added that identity theft costs the financial community more than $17 billion during that same period.
“Tons of money being lost is just a mouse-click away,” he said adding, “75 percent of the world’s electronic fraud is paid for by Americans.”
How people get their identities stolen varies, but they’re vulnerable whenever they shop or bank online, especially when using wireless systems.
Other ways to prevent data breaches, in addition coding passwords and logins, is to get antivirus and malware software on computers, tablets and phones where online commerce is done. Don’t open e-mail attachments from unknown senders and don’t click on unknown links is social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
In office settings, Romanoff said to check the identity of people claiming to be from the IT department. Make sure they are who they claim to be.
Businesses that donate or resell used computers should first use programs to overwrite old files. Just emptying a virtual trashcan isn’t good enough to prevent sensitive files from being recovered by someone else.
He added that fraudsters spend most of their time focusing on small and medium size businesses.
There are also some online resources with information on preventing identity theft. Romanoff suggested www.identitytheftassistance.org and the Internet crime complaint center at www.ic3.gov.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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