Stay Cyber Safe and Protect Your “PII”

Everything, from our web browsing to mobile devices and the smart devices installed in our homes, has the potential to erode our privacy and personal security. It’s so important that we do whatever we can to safeguard our personal privacy from cyber-attackers and scam artists.

Your Personally Identifiable Information, known as PII, can include your name, physical home address, email address, telephone numbers, date of birth, marital status, Social Security numbers, and other information relating to your medical status, family members, employment, and education.

All this data, whether lost in different data breaches or stolen through cyberattacks, can provide attackers with enough information to conduct identity theft, take out loans using your name, and potentially compromise online accounts that rely on security questions being answered correctly. In the wrong hands, this information can also prove to be a gold mine for advertisers lacking a moral backbone.

The average user also has about 26 password-protected accounts, but only has five different passwords across these accounts. That makes us more susceptible to hacks, especially brute force attacks. With more than 85 percent of Americans keeping track of online passwords by memorizing them in their heads, it’s nearly impossible to memorize up to 26 passwords. If you have a plethora of passwords, it’s important to install a password management program. However, a shockingly low 12 percent of Americans actually have a password manager installed. Panda Security has put this infographic together to show how vulnerable we are to hackers getting our personal information: