As Yahoo!’s head of Customer Advocacy, I would like to share another great online safety tool we’ve created to help protect your vital and private information while using the web.

Have you ever wondered how online hackers gain access to your personal information?  What if I told you that in many cases it was YOU who provided them with the information they need to gain access to the data you value most?  It’s true, but a free tool called the “sign-in seal” is one way to avoid becoming victim to piracy.

What’s a sign-in seal and why do you need one?  Great questions!

A sign-in seal is a secret message or image that you select to help protect your account from fraud such as password phishing. When you create a sign-in seal for your computer, you can be sure you're on a legitimate Yahoo! site each time you use your computer to log in to your Yahoo! account. You’ll see the text or image you set up on your computer. If it's not there, you might have landed on a "spoofed" site.

The sign-in seal you designated is only saved on the computer you created it on – therefore if you log in using a different computer, you will not see the sign-in seal. If you use more than one computer or browser, you can choose to create a sign-in seal for each.  If you don’t see your sign-in seal on the sign-in page, the webpage you've opened is likely a fake Yahoo! page. If this happens, you should report the incident to Yahoo! customer care immediately!

Another important tip: do NOT create a sign-in seal on a computer you share with strangers such as those in libraries, Internet cafes, and other public hot spots.

For more information on online safety, please visit: http://security.yahoo.com
Have a wonderful day!

Jeff Russakow
EVP of Customer Advocacy
Yahoo! Inc.