BECOMING CYBER SECURE
With the ever changing technologies of today, data breaches and cybersecurity are at the forefront of our minds, and rightfully so. The number of successful cyberattacks in the U. S. has grown 144 % in the past four years. Attacks are happening daily, with 62 % of these attacks targeting small to midsized businesses.
TIP # 1 – CREATE COMPLEX PASSWORDS THAT ARE EASY TO REMEMBER You’ ve heard this before – make your passwords complex and use a different one for every website and application. The longer and more complex the password, the more difficult it is to hack. It could take years to crack a complex password of 10 characters compared to a non-complex password. Choose something that is easy to remember, like your favorite song lyric, so that you will not easily forget it.
Suggestions: Take the first letter from each word of that song lyric to get 8-9 letters for your password. Then add a number and special character to it to get your Base password. Finally, add 2 upper case site specific letters to the site to the beginning to get your complex, easy to remember and unique site specific password.
TIP # 2 – THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK Don’ t fall for a“ phishing attack”. Never click a link or open an attachment that you did not expect to receive. Scams today look very convincing, coming in the form of voicemails, e Faxes, invoices, social media, ADP theme, or from the IRS. If you receive a LinkedIn invite by email, confirm it is real by signing into the LinkedIn website or use your mobile app. If you’ re not expecting something or have to think twice about the contents, don’ t open it. If you do, you’ re opening hackers to the contents of your computer. Contact your IT department if you think an email is suspect, or just delete it and report it as SPAM.
TIP # 3 – PREVENT EMAIL FRAUD Since January 2015, there has been a 270 % increase in email fraud instances. There have been over 17,642 victims and $ 2.3 billion in losses between October 2013 and February 2016, with the most prominent one being Ubiquity Networks that became a victim of a $ 46.7 million“ CEO email fraud.”
Got an email from your CEO requesting an urgent wire transfer? The email address actually matches the email ID of your CEO? Don’ t act on it. Pick up the phone and verify. Be cautious of mimicked email addresses, email-only wire transfer requests and requests involving urgency. If it’ s something you’ re not expecting or the address looks a little off, it probably is a fake. Attackers use a technique called“ spear phishing” by sending email requests that appear genuine due to the language used and relevance of the content. Sometimes it pays to go“ old school”. Don’ t hesitate to pick up the phone and call to verify legitimate business partners and reasons. Scam emails aren’ t as obvious as ALL CAPS or with $$$ saying“ YOU WON CA $ H $$$”. Emails today can be very convincing.
Being conscientious of what you’ re opening and who is sending you emails can help you avoid a $ 25,000 to $ 75,000 loss, which is the average loss per scam.
TIP # 4 – PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER ENVIRONMENT AGAINST VIRUSES
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Tips To Becoming Cyber Secure
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