Your Financial Future: Protect your assets from cyber thieves
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This October marks the 19th annual National Cybersecurity Awareness month.
Online fraud is one kind of identity theft. Billions of dollars are lost every year to these types of crimes. Everyone must do their part to protect their family蘑菇视频 finances.
This year蘑菇视频 Cybersecurity Awareness focuses on four key points. First is enabling multi-factor authentication. You see examples of this when you change a password and a code is texted to your cellphone. This makes it harder for a thief to access your accounts.
The second key point is using stronger passwords. Many people repeat passwords on different websites. While this makes them easier to remember, you are more vulnerable if a site is hacked and your information is stolen. Also, there are some very common passwords selected by many people including the word 鈥減assword鈥� itself.
Updating software is the important third step. Crooks are always trying to find vulnerabilities in software to steal information. They may be able to discover passwords or account numbers and steal your money. They may get your contact list and send messages to your friends requesting money. Apple, Microsoft and other tech companies issue patches every month to strengthen their software. Sign up for automatic updates so you are not vulnerable. Also, have good anti-virus software on your devices to help thwart attacks.
Sometimes, crooks freeze your computer, or attack companies, withholding critical client data until a ransom is paid. Some hospitals or other companies have paid millions of dollars to recover their patient records and other needed data.
The fourth step in this year蘑菇视频 campaign is recognizing and reporting phishing. Phishing is when you are sent a bogus request to get you to reveal sensitive information. Almost every week, I receive an email from some company thanking me for purchasing something that I did not buy. It says my $600 television has shipped and if I have any questions to contact them.
They are hoping I call and say I did not order or want this item. They would then say they want to resolve this mistake and are sorry this happened. Of course, they would want to know account numbers so they could make sure I was not charged. Suddenly, they would have my information. These criminals can be very smooth. Delete phishing emails or text messages, and do not contact these people.
Sometimes, you will get an email from someone claiming to be Amazon or some other company. They say your account is frozen and you must update information. Do not respond to these links, but sign into your account on the actual company蘑菇视频 website. Often these bogus emails have Gmail or some other generic web addresses. I think Amazon would only use an email that was directly connected to their website.
If you receive an email purporting to be from the IRS, be careful. They do not use email as a means of contact, but instead send traditional mail. They will never request to be paid with a pre-paid debit card. Sometimes these emails threaten that the police will come and arrest you if you do not pay immediately. The police do not work for the IRS.
Common sense is one of your best defenses. Next week, we will discuss some additional things you can do to protect your family.
Your Financial Future is written by certified financial planner Gary W. Boatman, MBA and CFP, who also wrote the book, 鈥淵our Financial Compass: Safe Passage Through The Turbulent Waters of Taxes, Income Planning and Market Volatility.鈥� If there is an area that you would like to see discussed in the column, send your suggestions to gary@BoatmanWealthManagement.com.