More than 100,000 IRS user accounts were stolen by hackers who had access to secured information. This made it easier for the hackers to collect personal data from innocent people and by pass the IRS security checks. Americans are expected to trust government entities like the IRS with our personal information however, even they are not safe from hackers, proven by this incident. To help protect yourself from potential identity theft here are some tips you can take to avoid being hacked.

Check Credit Card & Bank Statements

By checking our bank statements monthly you’ll be able to stay organized with finances and see if any suspicious activity was made. This can help with early detection of fraudulent charges.

Get a Credit Check

Anyone can get a free credit report each year through Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. With a credit report you can verify the information listed on the reports and check for any suspicious activity. Checking credit reports yearly will allow you to notice any theft by hackers and protect your personal data better.

Virus Protection

Make sure that the firewalls and virus protections in your laptop or computer system is up to date and installed correctly. Having a viruses on your devices is the easiest opportunity for hackers to access your personal data.

Be Aware of What You Share

As we all know, the internet isn’t always the safest place so make sure you are aware of the information you share and to who at all times on the web. Think about how much you trust a site before giving away valuable information about yourself and make sure you are in a secured Wi-Fi connection when dealing with online banking or with submitting confidential data to a site. In addition, try not to over share on social media since there are ways hackers might be able to steal your identity through those websites.

Stronger Passwords

Develop strong passwords instead of re using your old passwords. By using a mix of letters, numbers and symbols you can abbreviate or create a phrase that will allow your password to be impenetrable to hackers or thefts. Creating a new password each time might be harder to remember at times but will always be extra secure.