It's been almost two years since the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we live, work, and go about our daily lives. Another thing that’s changed is the increase in cybercrime. In 2020, reporting showed that cybercrime rose an eye-popping 400%¹. As millions of people still work from home, identity thieves continue to put in long hours.

The pandemic created an explosion of never-before-seen online traffic, which paved the way for fraudsters and cybercrime to run wild. October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). Now in its 17th year, NCSAM marks a time for you to boost your knowledge and learn how to stay safer as you work, shop, surf, and enjoy entertainment online. This year’s theme is “#Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.”

Here are a handful of identity protection tips.

1. Activate your free identity protection. Powered by Experian®, the ProtectMyID® Essential plan comes with access to powerful features for you to keep an eye on your credit and protect your identity, including credit monitoring of your Experian credit report, Lost Wallet Protection in case your wallet is lost or stolen, and 24-hour expert, step-by-step Fraud Resolution if you experience identity theft.

2. Understand how fraudsters and identity thieves work. Do you know what happens when a hack occurs? How about a phishing scam? Cybercriminals use many clever tricks and methods to steal your information. Through hacking, someone obtains illegal access to data stored on a computer or computer network. Once on the network, they can steal information such as credit cards, social security numbers, and more. Phishing happens when someone pretends to be a company or person you know and trust to obtain sensitive data, such as your passwords.

3. Create passwords that make hackers give up or at least keep trying for a long, long time. If you’re wondering, "Password" and "123456" are not secure passwords and can be easily hacked. When creating or updating passwords, make it tough to crack. Use combinations of letters, numbers, characters, symbols, upper and lowercase letters, and make it highly unique to you for extra security.

4. Knock, knock, who's home? The Internet of Things (IoT). While smart thermostats, doorbells, and other make-life-easier things come with modern convenience, they also pose risks. Create strong passwords on your IoT accounts and change them often. Also, always review the product’s privacy settings carefully to protect your data from collection and storage policies.

5. Stay alert every day, everywhere. Whether shopping, surfing, watching media, browsing social media, opening an email, or downloading documents, practice safety in everything you do online, at home, and work. Even if you’re still at home working. It may sound difficult and time consuming, but it's worth it. For another set of eyes, be sure to keep your anti-virus and antispyware up-to-date and remember to activate your free ProtectMyID Essential plan.

To learn more and activate your free ProtectMyID plan, visit AAA.com/IDTheft