Identity theft is a crime in which someone gains access to another person's personal information and uses it for profit. The criminal typically steals a victim's date of birth, full name, address and Social Security number for the purpose of acquiring credit or other types of finance fraud. Identity theft often occurs when malicious software programs are installed surreptitiously on a computer over the Internet while the user is browsing websites. You can take a few steps to ensure that your computer is fully protected from all kinds of malicious software, which will help prevent identity theft from occurring.
Instructions
1. Purchase, download and install an "Internet Security" software package from the Internet. Security applications such as "AVG Internet Security," "Kaspersky Internet Security" and "Norton Internet Security" are proven to be effective at providing a safeguard from malicious users accessing your computer.
2. Click on the Windows "Start" button, "All Programs," then "Windows Update." Click on the "Check for Updates" button, then download all of the "Critical Updates" that are available. The vast majority of these updates are designed to patch Microsoft Windows so that the operating system is more secure.
3. Visit the official McAfee SiteAdvisor website, then download and install SiteAdvisor. If you use a Web search engine such as Google, Yahoo! or Bing, SiteAdvisor will display a green tick next to the website link in the results if it is safe, a yellow cross for potentially dangerous websites or a red cross if it is proven to be dangerous. Click only on website links with a green cross next to them.
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