hurray your mega menu works

Burglars don’t want your TV: they are after your data

Data theft is not just about hacking your computer, it’s also about burgling your home

It is said that data is now the most valuable commodity in the world. It’s used to target you for marketing or fraud, to steal your identity and to hack your accounts and images. Now, we’re all aware of the importance of securing our online data but what about the physical data you have in your home?

Instead of targeting your TV and your jewellery, burglars are now looking for different items. That includes things like your car keys and your medication but it also includes your documents and your tech that they can use to mine your data.

Documents such as passports, birth certificates, bank statements, credit card statements, pay slips etc can all offer information that can be used. Tech such as laptops, phones and tablets can all be hacked for your personal data.

What can you do?

The most important thing is to keep all these things out of sight. Important documents should ideally be kept in a safe as this can protect them from fire and flood as well as theft. Any documents of this nature that you don’t need to keep should be disposed of securely by shredding or destroying in some way. This even includes items you might consider junk such as credit card offers as others could potentially use that to take out a credit card in your name.

Tech items should be kept away from windows and not left in gardens, even if you’re only popping in for a minute. And don’t keep passwords and usernames written down anywhere. This piece of paper could be more valuable than your wallet or purse!

Plus of course you should employ all the standard security measures you would to protect any other item in the home: good quality locks, burglar alarm and possibly even CCTV.

While theft of your possessions is upsetting and some items can be sentimental, it can usually be dealt with in the form of an insurance claim. Data theft, on the other hand, can have serious repercussions and could result in someone running up large debts in your name, accessing your bank accounts or committing fraud and other crimes in your name which can be difficult to prove and take a long time to resolve.

If you would like more information on keeping your data and your possessions safe, give us a call on 0800 612 9799 or send us a message using the form above.