The
best financial defense is your effort: spend time; remain alert,
proactive; monitor exposure. Keeping the avenues of commerce open
while avoiding obstruction is a balancing act. As Sun-Tzu might say,
'though a general does not lose, it does not mean he wins.' Victory
does not simply come from a good offense but requires a solid
defense. Sun-Tzu warns the invader to consider the great cost when
attacking a fortified city. Financially speaking, we can vastly limit
our exposure and create that fortified city of wealth.
A
simple example of a great defensive habit is to log-out. Why should I
make the effort if the system will automatically deactivate access to
my account after being idle for a specific interval? Fair point. For
the most part, that protects most of us most of the time. If being
secure most of the time is good enough for you, then why worry? For
me, I'm concerned about those moments when automation fails. I close
each secure session every time. The second a system is hacked
sufficiently, all open accounts become targets. Anyone with the bad
luck of being connected to a breached system's core runs the risk of
exposure. During this time, the system's security will find it
challenging to detect your absence when the hackers raid and
manipulate your information. Because you did n
ot log-out, their
activity appears as your activity. It takes so little effort to
click the link. That's why it's there. Use it.
A
tight ship does not leak. Any hard-copy with my personal data is
stored or burned. Period. One thing we control is what comes out of
our homes. We can toss our junk mail out; we can be lazy and fail to
go through it. On the other hand, we can imagine the many pieces to
the Identity Theft puzzle. Junk-mail constitutes a few. Credit-card
offers are a prize, like a game-piece ready for play. Denying any
single avenue makes theft difficult for thieves; denying all of them
makes it impossible for anyone. I choose to burn; others prefer to
shred. Ashes, when scattered, are not as easily reconstituted as bits
of paper. Maybe some alien, quantum magic exist out there where
spread ashes can be reincarnated. I guess I'll take my chances. What
I am not willing to take a chance on is shredding.
Of
course, large-scale shredding that is directly recycled is perfectly
safe for industry. But it's different when it comes to my limited,
personal information. I plug every hole I see.
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