Following the launch of its HomeSafe and Super Safe Boost security offerings for users earlier in the year, TalkTalk is now urging users to follow five simple tips to stay safe over Christmas:
- Change your passwords. TalkTalk suggests using F-Secure’s methodology (How to create and remember strong passwords)
- Don’t post your travel plans on line. The general rule, it says, is, “don’t tell anyone online that you’re going out of town who you wouldn’t tell in real life.”
- Take the geo-tagging data off your images. It’s a way of telling burglars that your home is empty.
- Shop smart and monitor your credit cards. When shopping, make sure that the site is using ‘https’. Use the same card for all online transactions, and monitor the account closely.
- Make sure your protection is up to date. This applies to both security defenses (such as anti-virus engines) and the operating system and applications. Update and patch is the rule – the vast majority of criminal attacks focus on vulnerabilities that have already been patched by the vendors or protected by the anti-virus companies.
“While the internet is ultimately a great thing,” comments Adrian Taylor, TalkTalk’s security product manager, “there are unfortunately risks associated which range from seemingly harmless spam through to growing opportunities for serious crime. We want to provide our customers with both the advice and the tools they need to explore the internet in a way that is safe and secure. People do have to take individual responsibility for their safety online but together, HomeSafe and our Super Safe Boost, mean that TalkTalk customers have access to the most complete and comprehensive suite of internet safety offerings of any ISP.”
Over 200,000 TalkTalk customers have so far activated HomeSafe.