A man in South Carolina was just arrested after finding the personal information of WWE Star Sonya Deville, and ABC Action News Tampa Bay interviewed me about how we can prevent situations like this from happening again.
Suspect Phillip Thomas plotted entering the star's home for 8 months and entered her home without her knowledge with assault weapons. ABC Action News WFTS Tampa asked me how you could be able to stay safe from criminals stealing your personal information.
Let me be clear - there's NO WAY to guarantee the protection of your data in today's age with one exception.
There are 12 healthy habits we can all adopt, on social media especially, to greatly reduce our risk against bad actors.
- Only friend people you have met in real life.
- Check your social network privacy settings regularly.
- Set your profile privacy to friends only.
- Don't check into locations because it makes it easier for someone to stalk you.
- Don't post that your house is empty when you go on vacation because it makes you a target for theft.
- Use a VPN when surfing social media on public WiFi.
- Don't post photos of items that may contain your personal information like your driver's license, check stubs and airline tickets.
- Don't give random apps and survey sites permission to access your profile.
- Share with care, the internet is forever.
- Don't post anything that would upset your grandmother or someone interviewing you 10 years from now.
- Don't post company information or publicly rant about your professional life.
- Don't post evidence of illegal activities or inappropriate content.
With new-school security awareness training, you can ensure your users can utilize these helpful tips during the day-to-day work and home life.
ABC Action News Tampa Bay has the full story.
