Security Tips From a Top Cybercrime Cop

Content provided by USAA

If you show up at Gordon Snow's home and need to check your email, don't expect to jump on his computer or Wi-Fi network. He'll want a scan of your computer first. And sharing his password with you? Forget about it.

Security is serious business for this USAA member who, until just recently, served as assistant director of the FBI's Cybercrime Division. And he wants you to take it seriously too.

"I really do believe that cyber security is the responsibility of every individual. You are only as strong as the weakest link," says Snow.

Why Doing Your Part Matters

The Internet Crime Complaint Center, run by the FBI and other organizations, processed more than 300,000 complaints last year, 120,000 of which were forwarded to law-enforcement agencies. And Kaspersky, a cybersecurity firm, recently reported that the number of Web-based malicious software attacks topped 940 million in 2011 — a 16% increase in just one year.

In a recent conversation with midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy, Snow talked to a senior midshipman who had just received his orders. The midshipman’s friends had posted their orders to various social networks, but because this midshipman was going into military intelligence, he stayed quiet on social media. Yet, his assignment showed up on Facebook. How? Friends inadvertently posted the information for the entire public to see.

Read 5 Social Networking Tips for Military Members

Snow shares six tips to help you guard against cybercrime:

1. Create Complicated Passwords

Steer clear of obvious personal references that a stranger could find easily through following you on social networks. This means avoiding birth dates, anniversaries, names, and patterns of numbers or letters. Snow uses different passwords on different systems and changes them regularly.

2. Keep Your Personal Network Personal

Snow prefers a hard line to a wireless network (though he does have one). He sets his wireless router so it doesn't display his network's name. In addition, his router only allows devices to access his wireless network if Snow has manually entered the gadget's Media Access Control address, which is essentially a serial number unique to every device.

3. Purchase Secure Gadgets

"I don't use anything that connects to the Internet that I'm not sure has strong security," Snow says. That means researching the potential security flaws of any device he buys. He recommends a simple Google search for "security flaws" and the device name. That basic query often turns up a wealth of information on the weaknesses of a potential purchase.

4. Download Apps With Care

Snow is wary of free apps and programs unless he knows who provided and developed them, and whether they were properly tested. "We don't have anti-virus for a lot of smartphones and personal electronic devices that are out there," he explains. "So you need to ensure that the systems you are on, the applications you load and the actions you take are done in the most thought-out way."

5. Keep Important Information Offline

If you have highly sensitive information, it should be stored on a device that is not connected to the Internet. This might seem difficult in an age of mobile banking and shopping, but remember: "If it's not [connected to the Internet] and you are compromised, then they really have nothing to take," Snow says.

6. Be Cautious Using Social Media

The personal information consumers post to social networks is a cybercriminal's dream. These details can be used for a whole slew of illegal purposes, including figuring out answers to security questions for online accounts, tracking personal activities and even figuring out when people won't be home for an extended period of time.

Looks Too Good to Be True is a website that provides information about how to guard against Internet fraud.

The Safe Online Surfing Challenge is a resource for parents to help teach children to become savvy Web users.