The Onpoint Guide to Personal Cybersecurity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2021 GUIDE TO Personal cybersecurity Introduction: About this eBook . .3 Chapter 1: Securing your accounts . 4 Protect yourself from cybercrime . 5 Setting a strong username and password . 6 Chapter 2: Protecting your data online . .8 Social media cybersecurity best practices . 9 Malware and viruses . 10 Stay vigilant and protect your data . 11 Chapter 3: Digital protection checklist . 13 Chapter 4: How to spot and avoid common internet scams . .14 Digital account hijacking . 15 Sweetheart fraud . 16 Phishing, vishing, smishing . 17 Table of contents Quick money, unexpected windfalls, and too-good-to-be-true offers . 18 Fake approval notices . 19 Chapter 5: How to spot and avoid common offline scams . 20 ATM fraud . 21 SIM card swapping . 22 Chapter 6: Know the common signs of identity theft . 23. Chapter 7: What to do if you’ve been scammed . 24 Chapter 8: Tips for talking to your children about online safety . 25 Teaching kids about cybersecurity . 26 Chapter 9: Small business cybersecurity . .27 Chapter 10: List of resources . 28 Conclusion . 29 2 The risk of identity theft has grown in large part due to the rising number of connected devices in our lives. Every time we open an account to try a new service, swipe our cards, or participate in social media, we increase the risk of exposure. Millions of Americans are the victims of identity theft and fraud each year. With massive data breaches frequently making headlines, even the most careful consumers are open to attack. Oregon and Washington ranked 33rd and 22nd in identity theft complaints in 2019.1 Nationally, U.S. consumers reported losing $1.48 billion related to fraud complaints, an increase of $406 million from 2017. Fortunately, you can protect your personal information by taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity. Also, you must be prepared to act quickly if your information is stolen—vigilance can prevent you from becoming a victim of fraud. Learn how you can protect yourself and recover from fraud in our comprehensive guide to ABOUT THIS EBOOK personal cybersecurity. Introduction RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 CHAPTER ONE Securing your accounts Understanding social engineering and confidence schemes When thinking about cyber attacks, you might envision hackers creating viruses to gain access to personal accounts and business networks. However, the vast majority (98%) of cyber attacks actually rely on social engineering.2 Social engineering and confidence schemes are designed to trick you into PROTECT YOURSELF FROM revealing personal information that will compromise your account security. CONFIDENCE SCHEMES BY FOLLOWING THIS ONE In most cases, cyber criminals deceive their targets into thinking they are interacting with someone who is UNIVERSAL RULE: trustworthy—a government official or bank representative for example. Fraudsters use emotional appeals, Never share pressure, urgency, and limited information to trick people into providing the additional information necessary to access and gain control of the target’s account or network. your personal information Take the time to ensure that you contact the business or organization via their official channels. Don’t trust links and phone numbers sent to you by a representative that initiates contact. For example, with someone who a representative from your financial institution will never initiate contact and ask you for sensitive contacted you. information such as your credit/debit card PIN, three-digit code, online banking password or secure access code to verify your identity on a call or email. Learn more about confidence schemes and how to protect yourself here. RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Protect yourself from cybercrime Dealing with identity theft can be incredibly stressful and may cost significant amounts of time and money to resolve the issue. A proactive approach to identity security can save you from a substantial disruption. Using password management best practices • Never repeat passwords between websites. It’s common to use the same username and complex password between sites. However, if an attacker is able to breach one site, they may be able to use that information on other sites across the internet. Consider using different logins, passwords, and username/password recovery methods for accounts with sensitive information. • Use long, complex passwords. Phrases like “Ialwayseat2pizzas” are hard to guess, but easy to remember. • Use a password manager. These are apps and browser plug-ins that make it easy to use complex passwords. There are both free and paid options, do your research and choose what works best for you. • Make secure backups of your data. Most password manager software has an option to do this automatically. Alternatively, you can create a file containing your passwords and store it in an encrypted folder on your computer. Never store your passwords as plain text. If you store your passwords on a physical piece of paper, place them under lock and key. Use two-factor authentication (2FA) when possible • Factors could include a secure access code sent via SMS text, a secure phone app that generates a one-time code, or a physical token that you plug into your computer. In each case, you’ll be required to use your password plus a secure code to access your account. Accounts that allow you to use a unique identifier in addition to your password creates an added layer of security. • If you attempt to log into to your OnPoint account from an unregistered device, you will always be asked to provide a second form of authentication in the form of a secure access code sent to a phone number on your account. Chapter 1: Securing your accounts RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 Private. Do not share your username or password with anyone—shared passwords increase risk of fraud. Unique. Use a different username and password for each account—reusing or repeating credentials increases the risk of a fraudster obtaining your information. If an online retailer has a data breach, the credentials obtained from the breach may be used by hacker to attempt to gain access to other accounts using the same information. Random. A randomized password makes it harder for criminals to use computer software Strong or knowledge of your personal information to guess your password. password Memorable. Practice your username and passwords and commit them to memory so you’re able to recall your credentials when you need them. Consider using a passphrase checklist with symbols swapped for some characters. For example: “eYeL1kEf00+B@ll” is complex, ( Password | Username ) relatively easy to remember and significantly more secure than “ilikefootball”. Secured. If you need to store your credentials, they must be stored securely. If you HERE TO HELP KEEP YOUR have a physical copy, keep it in a safe place—if possible, write down hints instead of the ACCOUNTS SAFE usernames and passwords. For digital storage, use an encryption device or storage service At OnPoint, we take your and commit a single strong username and password combination to memory. If you use account security seriously. security questions, make sure that the answers cannot be found easily through social Please be aware, OnPoint media or public records. will never ask for sensitive Variety. Make use of all available characters in your password, including lowercase letters, information via phone, email uppercase letters, numbers and symbols. or text. This includes requests for passwords, secure access Authentication. If your password is guessed or stolen, two-factor authentication can create an additional layer of security. Often in the form of a short code sent via call or text to your codes, PIN or credit/debit phone number, dual authentication requires that a fraudster have access to your phone in card 3-digit codes. For more addition to your username and password. information, please visit onpointcu.com/security. Does not contain: Birthdate, Social Security number, Words from the dictionary phone number Adjacent keyboard combinations Names of friends, family, pets, (i.e., qwerty, 456789, fghjkl) favorite sports teams, etc. Less than 10 total characters Common terms or phrases (letters, numbers, symbols) (i.e., quotes, clichés, etc.) RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 Protect yourself from cybercrime (continued) Identifying spoofed accounts and bots Fraudsters may pretend to be a person or organization you trust by pretending to call, text or email you from an official source. These spoofed contacts can even appear legitimate through caller ID, SMS or email. To identify spoofed accounts or bots pretending to be people: • Check email addresses, not just display names. For example, a message may claim to be from a company’s customer service department, but the address will be something like “[email protected]”. • Check the email header by clicking the drop-down option under the subject line. Look for suspicious addresses in the “return” and “sent from” paths. Browsing the web through a virtual proxy network (VPN) • A VPN anonymizes your web traffic by routing it through one or more servers across the globe. • Sites won’t remember your information, so you’ll need to re-enter login credentials. Using a VPN can help keep your data more secure, but also makes some digital activities less convenient. For instance, as an OnPoint member, you are able to optionally establish your devices as “registered” or “secure”, allowing you to log into your account using a secure access code. When using a VPN, you would be unable to save your device and would need to enter a secure access code each time you log into Digital Banking. Additionally, using a VPN could result in some financial institutions to flag your account under “suspicious activity,’’ especially if the VPN routes you through other countries. To avoid your VPN creating a barrier to your financial accounts, we recommend establishing a VPN with a U.S. address.