We’re always on the lookout for information that can help us, and you, in our day-to-day jobs. A recent ING newsletter had these great tips for helping you keep your data secure.

As a consumer there are steps you can take to protect your confidential information and reduce the risk of identity theft and potential financial harm. Here are a few helpful hints:

• Keep your anti-virus software enabled and updated. Anti-virus software scans and deletes viruses from your computer and incoming e-mail.
• Keep your computer files updated. Operating systems such as Windows or Mac OS, financial software programs, and entertainment applications may have vulnerabilities or back doors where a keen attacker could gain unauthorized access to your computer.
• Be cautious with your e-mail:

• Do not open e-mails from unknown or suspicious sources. Delete them immediately.
• Do not open attachments or click on links contained within e-mails from unknown or suspicious sources.
• Do not reply to e-mails from unknown or suspicious sources.
• Basic rule in reading any e-mail, if it sounds too good to be true, do not click on it.
• If someone hacks your e-mail and uses it to send suspicious messages to people in your address book, change your password immediately to prevent subsequent messages.

• If you use high-speed Internet access, be sure to use a firewall.
• Be suspicious of Internet downloads. Make sure you download information only from trustworthy sites and that you always virus-scan downloads before opening them.
• Use spyware detection with your other safeguards to ensure that you do not become a victim of pop ups that could obtain your user ID and password to your private accounts.
• Act immediately in case of an infection. If your computer is infected, log off the Internet and scan it with updated anti-virus software.