We've all heard the phrase, "protect yourself online." If you are attuned to the news, you constantly hear about data breaches, data losses, lost or stolen credit card data or private information.  How can this happen so frequently?  How do so many companies lose data or have data stolen?  While there are several correct answers, more often than not, the problem really boils down to one thing - not taking adequate steps to protect the information of others.  There are many means for protecting information in a corporate setting, but how can you, as a consumer, protect your own information online?

Several steps need to be taken to protect yourself online.  To begin, be sure the browser you are using (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari) is fully patched and up-to-date.  If you are using an outdated (or old) browser, upgrade immediately.  Virtually all older browsers have vulnerabilities able to be actively exploited while you are online.

Second, never surf from a computer without some sort of antivirus/antimalware protection installed, patched, and with up-to-date virus definitions.  Many of the online threats are avoidable by simply having an up-to-date antivirus installation.

Next, if you are using Firefox (a browser strongly recommended for its extensibility and expansive base of coders), be sure to use a script blocking plug-in like NoScript, a browser plug-in designed to prevent Cross-site Scripting, "clickjacking", and malicious code execution on webpages.  (These are all common techniques used by criminals to gain access to other sites you may visit like online banking, credit card, PayPal, email, etc.) NoScript will prevent javascript from running on any page you have not explicitly allowed.  Hence, if you frequently visit CNN.com for news, when you first visit CNN after installing NoScript, you will have to "allow" it to run script in order to view the news on the CNN site.

There's one last thing to keep in mind. If you frequent more than a couple sites requiring login, be sure to use a password vaulting program like LastPass.  LastPass is cross-platform and works with all major browsers.  It works on Linux, Mac, PC, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.  By installing and using LastPass, rather than having to remember multiple passwords to multiple sites (or, let's be honest, using the same password at several or all sites), you setup a strong password (upper-case, lower-case, special characters, & numbers) for LastPass and let LastPass remember all your web logins.  This will prevent data leakage from sites that get compromised and are able to use your credentials to access other websites.  It can also provide a layer of security for your workstation you have never experienced before.  No more yellow Post-It notes under your keyboard, no more simple passwords for website logins.  Just remember one strong password vault password, securing your logins and securing your private information while making the task of logging in to all of your sites quick and easy.