Over the years many friends who know I'm a techie / nerd have asked or commented:
- Aren't you concerned with the safety of online shopping? Someone could steal your credit card or account numbers. Using all these online services are dangerous.
While it is true that someone online could steal your credit card or account number, this kind of crime requires an "intelligent crook"; it amazes me how few of my friends take practical easy "low tech security" steps which will yield "high tech results".
Let's take the common mailbox. How many of you have locking mailboxes? An online thief needs to have advanced software skills to steal your identity. Your "common everyday thief" only needs the ability to open your mailbox and steal your identity. Your mail is a wealth of bank statements, credit card bills, and utility invoices. By opening your mailbox, I could have all this information within seconds. The intelligence required to acquire this data is almost nill.
Here is my mailbox. The mail delivery person puts my correspondence into a slot. The mail then slides down into a locked area. In addition, if I'm out of town, it is impossible to know that fact by checking my mail. Thus, do you practice low tech security? You should!
Here are a few photos of the NorthStar Nerd's mailbox! There is even a video about my mailbox. I just hope the guy in the video never shows up my neighborhood with his baseball bat! Here is a link to the mailbox reviewed in my post, Mailboss.
Click upon any image to view at full size.
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