Students are heading off to new locations to further their education and
secure their future. Thus they will find themselves in new surroundings and a “new world”. They will not think of protecting their identity from theft or fraud.
Here are some tips to prevent any unpleasant incidents:
Protect your passwords – don’t give your passwords to anyone else
- use different passwords for your credit card, bank, laptop and telephone
- Be credit card smart – Check each statement for unauthorized charges
- Secure your mail – both paper and electronic
- Review your records regularly
- Check your credit rating
- Don’t leave valuable or personal information lying around – keep it in a secure
- Destroy information by secure shredding – both paper and electronic
The educational institutions are required to follow strict legislations about the usage and storage of student information.
This is not always the case. Take for instance the recent hack that occurred at the prestigious US college Georgia Tech. Between Dec 18 and Mar 19, the names, address, date of birth and social security numbers of 1.3 million students were stolen.
Or the 4.7 million dollar fine given to WSU for a stolen hard drive with historical data on it from a safe inside a mini storage unit – a storage place that was deemed not reasonably secure! Read the full article – https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/wsu-to-pay-up-to-4-7-million-for-data-theft-involving-1-2-million-people/
Be smart and ever vigilant about your identity.