Improve Cyber Security Resilience with Simple Practices

Cyber-security

Jan 16

There are endless reasons to take initiative on protecting your financial well-being. These tips below are some easy to implement and low cost ways to begin increasing your cyber-security today.

Cyber-Security Facts

$1.7 billion – Suspicious activities, including reported losses and attempts to steal older adults’ funds reported by financial institutions in 2017

$34k – Average loss from reported exploitation and fraud cases

~80% – the amount of elder financial exploitation that involved a monetary loss

>50% – the amount of fraud that involves a money transfer

Worldwide spending on information security will reach more than $124 billion in 2019 and cybercrime will cost the world in excess of $6 trillion by 2021. *

Computer Usage and Web Browsing

Verify your computer is up to date (operating system and web browsers)
Activate firewall and install antivirus software
Only download apps from the Google Play store or Apple's app store
Avoid public Wi-Fi connections. Better to use personal Wi-Fi hotspot or your cell phone data plan than risk security breach with free Wi-Fi. Fraudsters can create safe looking Wi-Fi networks that may appear to be associated with a reputable source.
Pay attention to security warnings that pop up and never accept software updates when connected to public Wi-Fi.
Verify you're on a secure website before sharing personal information. Inspect the address bar for a “lock” symbol. If you don’t see this, you should not share personal information on the website.
Do not access websites that hold your sensitive information, such as financial or healthcare accounts on public WiFi.
If using a public Wi-Fi connection is necessary, be cautious and avoid entering personal information into any websites. Consider using a virtual private network (VPN).
Don’t share sensitive personal information on social media sites
Never use a free or found USB thumb drive. Fraudsters have been known to strategically place infected USB drives in parking lots, shopping malls, and conference centers.

Email Usage

Assume emails are guilty until proven innocent. Email threats are more advanced than ever before, making distinctions between real and fraudulent emails can be a challenge to identify.
Email threats can land in your inbox. Similarly, if your email is compromised, it could be used to send fraudulent messages to your contacts. Avoid sending any sensitive personal information over email.
Don’t open attachments or click hyper-links unless necessary and from a known and reliable source.
Don’t send attachments with personal information via email. Even password-protected attachments are at risk and may alert fraudsters that the attachment is of value. A best practice is to use a secure online document “vault” service to transfer documents securely.
Your personal Vector vault (access login page via https://www.vectorwealth.com/client) is a secure way to store, send or receive confidential information with your advisor.
Be aware of phishing attempts and scams. These can be in the form of an urgent-sounding email where you might be encouraged to click on a link in order to update personal information.
Check the sender’s domain name in the email address to see if it matches what you would expect.
Unsubscribing from email spam can increase your risk. The best practice is to “move” to your spam or junk folder and allow your email service to automatically place messages from that sender into that folder going forward.

Log In Credentials

Do use a 2-step or two-factor verification whenever possible.
Don't use personal information such as birthday or social security number as part of your login username or passwords.
Don’t allow web browsers to store your login credentials. Allowing web browsers to store login credentials may be more efficient, however, it opens you up to additional risks.
Create a unique password for each financial institution you do business with and change it every 6 months. A best practice is to add password complexity. Eight character passwords can be hacked in minutes, 15 character passwords can take decades to hack.
Don’t share passwords, especially over email or text messaging. Consider using a password manager tool to securely store and access all of your login credentials (examples, not endorsements: Last Pass, Keeper Security, RoboForm, 1Password).
Check your bank account transactions regularly (monthly) for suspicious activity. Forty four percent of fraud/exploitation activity involves a checking account to move money according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Make sure your contact information is up-to-date.
Set up a trusted contact with your financial advisor, custodian and banking relationships. A trusted contact is someone that can be contacted in the event your there are concerns around your health, well-being or welfare. A trusted contact cannot access personal information nor make decisions on your behalf.