Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Consumer Reports says...Are you secure?

I'm a little late, but here is my report.
The June 2011 issue of Consumer Reports featured how to beef up security for your home as well as id theft and computer malware. (Timely!)

Advice for your Home:
  • don't make it easy! take the time to lock up! cars too! (we've had a bunch of car breakins recently, but they were "let-ins" because the cars weren't locked.)
  • don't advertise you're on vacation - make it look occupied, a toy in the yard, neighbors picking up your newspapers, etc.
  • shut your garage door!
  • use your house alarm system (guilty)
  • a gun is NOT your best defense - most people who buy guns for protection are not properly trained and do not secure their gun making it more of a risk to themselves than protection

Advice for your ID & Accounts:
  • use tougher passwords with letter and number combinations
  • try not to bank from public computers
  • shred bills, medical files and receipts (they also recommend destroying prescription labels)
  • cover yourself when entering pin number
  • know what should and shouldn't be on your credit card statement
Facebook advice:
  • set security for friends only and say no to allowing advertisers access to your info
  • preteens should NOT be on facebook, be aware
And here are some Ratings:
Security Software
Best Free Anti-Malware Program: Avira
Best Pay Security Suites: BitDefender, ESET, Avira, Norton, G Data & Kapersky (that's mine)
all rated very good performance and ease of use

Laptops
Apple MacBook 11 in #1; 13 in #1, 3, 4, 5; 15 in #1, 2
Toshiba 14 in #1, 6, 13 in #2, 8
Other honorable mentions
Sony, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Gateway, Asus

Tablets
Apple ipad and ipad2 still blow others away =)

5 comments:

FirstTimeMom said...

GREAT advice about the guns! If you're going to own one, get trained with it. People seem to think it's like a point and shoot camera. Not so much. I'm lucky to have a LEO husband :)

ITA about preteens and FB! I'm going to try and keep Alex off FB for as long as humanly possible.

Great post Tara! :)

Carolyn Arnold said...

hey I have something for you this time :) http://t.co/rooMq5o

kjmckendry said...

Thanks for the tips! I always wonder how safe it is to FB everything in the day like when I'm out and on vacation.

Rhonda Albom said...

Great advice and suggestions. Seems a bit safer here in NZ, but the internet safety needs are everywhere.

Tara Tyler said...

carla, i'm so glad to have you! and thanks for commenting =)
carolyn, you're the best! thanks for the shout out!
kim, i never realized how unprivate fb can be either.
rhonda, there are areas better than others. i think i would like to interview you sometime about life, writing & raising a family in nz...

Popular Posts