Keeping Hackers from Stealing Your Online Identity

by | Oct/31/2013

Too often you visit a website, after you place an order, transfer money, or update a profile, you just close the window when you are finished. You just skipped one of the most important parts for security…

Logout.

To help keep unauthorized users from having access to the websites you protect with a password, you need to logout of the website.

Unbeknownst to many, it is a very bad habit to just “close the browser” when you finish at a web site.

For example, if you go to your banking web site, or Amazon, or LinkedIn, or any other site that asks for your username and password, do your business and choose the option to log out, sign out, or the similar function they provide. Yes, the next time you come to the site, it will ask you for your password again, but many sites do that already.

If you just close Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari or whatever browser you are using without logging out, it is much easier for an unauthorized person to impersonate you if you skip the logout process. That person could be in your office who sits at your computer when you aren’t in your chair, or it could be someone on the other side of the planet.

Make logging out of web sites a habit!