USA.gov Blog

Posts tagged "safety"

How can I protect my Identity on the web, and who can i trust?

Asked by an anonymous Tumblr user.

Scammers, hackers, and identity thieves are looking to steal your personal information and money. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself.

  • Use security software that updates automatically. This will make sure your protected against the latest threats.
  • Treat your personal information like cash. Every time you are asked for your personal information, think about whether you can really trust the request
  • Check out companies to find out who you’re really dealing with. If you see an ad or an offer that looks good to you, take a moment to check out the company behind it.
  • Give personal information over encrypted websites only. To determine if a website is encrypted, look for https at the beginning of the web address (the “s” is for secure).
  • Protect your passwords. Create strong passwords and keep them in a secure place, out of plain sight.
  • Back up your files. Copy important files onto a removable disc or an external hard drive, and store it in a safe place.

Learn more about how to keep your information safe online

Making Water Safe to Drink in an Emergency

In an emergency, your water supply may become contaminated. Use only water that has been properly disinfected for drinking, cooking, or brushing your teeth.

If you don’t have bottled water and cannot boil water, then you can use a chemical treatment to kill most disease-causing organisms. Find out how to disinfect water with chlorine, iodine, or calcium hypochlorite.

How to Protect Your Home from Wildfires

Summer heat can bring wildfires. If you live in an area where they are common, there are steps you can take to minimize damage.

The best thing you can do is use fire resistant building materials. If this isn’t possible, be sure to remove flammable materials, such as leaves, from your roof and store gasoline away from occupied buildings.

Get more tips for protecting your home from wildfires.

Hotel Internet Networks Could Install Malware on Your Computer

Travelers abroad are at risk for malicious software being installed on their computers through internet networks at hotels, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

In most instances, a pop up window appears and asks the traveler to update a well known computer program. Once clicked, malicious software is installed on the laptop.

The FBI recommends to those traveling abroad that they should take extra precaution before updating their computer programs. Try and perform program updates before you leave home, instead of from the hotel. If your computer is attacked, contact your local FBI office and report it on IC3.gov.

Learn more about these kinds of malware attacks.

Risky Behavior By High School Students is Down

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conducts the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey of about 15,000 U.S. high school students every two years. Dangerous behavior continues to drop in many key areas, but it is up in some others.

The percentage of high school students who…

  • Never or rarely wore a seatbelt declined from 26% to 8% from 1991 to 2011.
  • Rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol during the past 30 days declined from 40% to 24% from 1991 to 2011.
  • Had driven a car during the past 30 days after drinking alcohol decreased from 17% in 1997 to 8% in 2011.

Alcohol remains the most commonly used drug among high school students.

  • 1 in 3 high school students reported drinking alcohol in 2011
  • 1 in 5 reported binge drinking in 2011
  • And yet, both groups have decreased by over ten percent since the late 1990s.

Marijuana use has…

  • Decreased slightly from 27% in 1999 to 23% in 2011.
  • Become more common than cigarette use (18%).

The use of technology among youth has resulted in new risks…

  • 1 in 3 high school students had texted or e-mailed while driving a car or other vehicle during the past 30 days.
  • 1 in 6 had been bullied through email, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites, or texting during the past 12 months.

Read analysis and explore the data from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.