We live in an increasingly digital age, where much of our personal information is available online. Technology has made aspects of our everyday lives more convenient but has also made us vulnerable to scams and cyberattacks, and that threat has only increased with more and more people working and learning from home due to COVID-19. Since October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we want to do our part to educate you on some of the best practices to protect yourself and your finances. Here are some common cybersecurity attacks; and tips on how to stop from becoming a victim.
Cybersecurity Threats
Cybersecurity threats come in many different forms, including phishing, identity theft, and identity fraud. Although these threats can seem overwhelming, there are some simple tips you can follow to help protect yourself.
Phishing is one of the most common threats people experience and can come in many forms, such as emails, text messages, even phone calls. These types of threats fall under the category of “social engineering”. Here are some examples and steps you can take to help stop social engineering attacks.
- Did you receive an email from someone halfway around the world offering you a small fortune? Or maybe a company is trying to sell you a magic diet pill? Not only are these probably too good to be true, they’re most likely attempts to trick you into handing over sensitive information. In general, watch out for emails that ask you to click a suspicious link or provide personal information. Do not open attachments unless you have verified the sender. Also, look for misspellings. These are red flags. Clicking on suspicious links or opening attachments can infect your device with malware and viruses to collect your personal information.
- Phishing isn’t limited to email. If you receive a text message from someone claiming to be your bank asking you to sign in, or offer up your personal information, don’t fall for it—it is most likely a scam.
- Would your bank ever call you to verify your account number? Probably not, since your bank already has your account numbers. If you’re ever in doubt about the caller, hang up and call the bank directly.
Every year, banks lose an estimated $10 million because of identity theft, with over 15 million Americans falling victim to this attack. Identity thieves usually take possession of a person’s identity and credit by obtaining a bank account/credit card number, social security number, and other sensitive information. Then it is used to open accounts in someone else’s name to make purchases. Identity theft can be a traumatic experience that takes much effort to undo. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to make it harder for the bad guys.
- Check your mail. Many identity thieves will open mailboxes to steal mail containing personal information which they can use to open lines of credit, create accounts, etc. The easiest way to prevent that is to check your mail every day.
- Monitor your credit reports. These are available for free for consumers (at annualcreditreport.com) from each of the big three credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion). It is always a good idea to review your reports and check for any new accounts that you don’t recognize.
- Consider putting a security freeze on your credit report. Security freezes will lock your credit reports from all creditors, so no new lines of credit can be opened without action from you. All three of the big credit bureaus provide facilities to help freeze your credit reports. If a security freeze is too extreme, each bureau also offers other mechanisms to control access to your credit file.
Things You Can Do Today
You don’t want to wait until you’ve become the victim of a cybersecurity attack to start taking precautions. While these are not foolproof, they will help to make sure that you have some safeguards in place to help deter and reduce the loss.
- Use Anti-virus Software and Malware Scanners- It’s important to have anti-virus software installed on your devices, but the software must be up to date so that your device won’t be defenseless in the event of a cyberattack.
- Use Strong Passwords- There are reasons why companies require you to use complex passwords. Using simple passwords like your birthday is much easier to guess and hack. If you want to take passwords to the next level, consider using a password manager. They take away most of the pain in generating and retrieving passwords.
- Diversify Your Passwords- Hackers are consistently targeting online accounts (social media, email, e-commerce, etc.) for personal gain. Using different passwords for each of your accounts will help minimize any damage should one of your accounts be compromised. Creating unique passwords for everything you do online may feel inconvenient, but it will be less stressful than trying to take back your identity. Here again, a password manager will make things much easier to manage.
- Enable two-step verifications/authentications when possible. This is an added layer of protection used to confirm the account holder’s identity. When you enable two-factor or even two-step authentication, accessing your online accounts becomes much harder because attackers now need not only your password, but also something in your possession, such as your phone in order to access your accounts.
For more information and tips about how you can protect yourself online, visit –
https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/assistance/protection/idtheft.html
- Ⓒ Wallis Bank, All rights reserved.
-
Equal Housing Lender 
- Privacy Notice Disclosures