Gallo, E. (2011). The Young Adult: Financial Education, Social Networking, and Internet Security. Journal of Financial Planning,24(10), 36-37. Retrieved from
Types of personal information that should raise suspicion if requested in email correspondence (using paraphrase).
Email scams are common (Gallo, 2011, p. 36). One of the ways a person can prevent being suckered into a scam is by checking the full sender information, as a malicious sender can masquerade as someone trusted, like a bank or iTunes. One should also be wary whenever any personal data is being requested, and one should avoid clicking through on a hyperlink embedded in an email. Obviously requests for money and for long-in information should raise red flags (Gallo, 2011, p. 37). A real bank is not going to ask for any sensitive personal data, or request a user to log in using a direct link. Asking for social security number, bank account, or passwords in the text of the email is a sign of a scam.
3. Type of computers to avoid using when accessing or entering personal information:
Gallo (2011) recommends that young people “never to use public computers to access sensitive information — anything that requires you to enter a login identity and a password,” (p. 36). In addition to this, Gallo (2011) claims that Macs are “less likely to be targeted for attacks,” and are generally “more secure than a ,” (p. 36).
4. Summarize the above article and provide an .
Internet safety is integral to financial education. Young people need to learn the basics of internet security, including how to minimize the potential for personal data or finances to be compromised via irresponsible computer use, phishing scams, or the unnecessary divulging of personal data on social media.
In “The Young Adult: Financial Education, Social Networking, and Internet Security,” Gallo (2011) first outlines the basics of internet security as it may pertain to young people. The author claims that young people should be taught to never enter their personal data or log into a financial website using a public computer. Then, the author suggests that whenever possible, young people should of PCs running Windows. Gallo (2011) then discusses the specific security measures young people can take when using their email, social media, and the Web in general. Email scams are relatively common, but with some common sense tips, young people can avoid divulging personal data or compromising the security of their accounts. One important thing to realize is that a legitimate company will never ask for personal data in an email, will never ask someone to send money, and will never require a click-through log in. It is always safer to log in separately and not through the email, even when the sender information has been verified.
The author proceeds to warn young people about the ways social media can compromise privacy and data security. Young people need to be careful about what they share, not only to protect their financial and personal data but also to avoid having problems finding work in the future due to what they share online. When using the Internet for banking, the user needs to check their browser’s address bar for a secure URL, which starts with https://. A regular http:// is an insecure connection and this should not be trusted for entering personal data. To be extra sure, the user can click the “padlock” icon on the browser to verify the certificate. Furthermore, the user needs to check the validity of the address itself because a hacker can duplicate the look of a financial website. Password management and effective password generation are also important for protecting information security. A password should ideally be complex, avoiding common words and any personal data. Ideally, a password contains multiple elements including punctuation marks, numbers, and capital letters.
References
Gallo, E. (2011). The Young Adult: Financial Education, Social Networking, and Internet Security. Journal of Financial Planning,24(10), 36-37. Retrieved from EBSCO Discovery Service
