The topic of hacking is one that has been seen in the news a lot recently. As more information comes to light about the recent Ashley Madison hacking, the severity of the attack has become increasingly clear to the public. Canadian law enforcement confirmed that two customers of the online company, which enables its clients to have affairs, have taken their lives after the release of their information.

Earlier in April of this year the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) learned that they had also suffered a security breach. OPM realized that personal information of over four million past and present government employees was compromised. While further investigating the attack in June, OPM learned additional information was stolen. This includes background investigation information, fingerprints, social security numbers and government contractors. This security breach has led to a multi-organization investigation with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However OPM is not alone; Target, JPMorgan, Home-Depot, Neimen Marcus, Michaels and Chase have also fallen prey to data breaches. FBI director James Comey was recently quoted in an article on The Heritage Foundation’s website saying, “There are two kinds of big companies in the United States. There are those who’ve been hacked…and those who don’t know they’ve been hacked.” With statistics claiming cyber crime has more than doubled in the past three years, Americans are left wondering, am I safe?

The Federal Trade Commission has given some tips on computer safety, like how to protect yourself from identity theft and even keeping your kids safe online. Hacking personal emails has become a common way to access personal information. So how do you know your email has been hacked? The FTC says some tell-tale signs are not being able to log into your email or other social media accounts, opening your email and seeing all your messages have been deleted, finding messages in your sent folder that you did not send or getting information from contacts about an email you supposedly sent them but didn’t. One of the best ways to protect yourself is by making sure you have security software and that it is up to date. If your security software has an option to scan your device for viruses, it is good to periodically do that! Another way to keep your accounts safe is to create a quality password. You want a password that’s going to meet the strength requirements of the website and will not be too easy to guess.

The FTC also recommends using different passwords for different websites versus one for all your various accounts. It’s good to be wary of suspicious links or sites that require you to download “free” software. As a rule of thumb its best to only open a link if you know who sent it to you or, if you already know what the attachment is. Never use a public computer to work on anything that contains personal information. If you do use a public computer, make sure you always log out of whatever you were working on.

Computer safety is becoming a growing threat. The best way to arm yourself is to be smart and think before you give out personal information. If you even think your accounts may be compromised, make sure to take the proper protocol in changing passwords or even deactivating the account. It’s like your mom always said, “better safe than sorry.”