Society has evolved to be reliant on digital technologies such as emails, bank account management systems, and social media among other things. Individuals and companies are susceptible to data breaches or account takeovers from hackers/fraudsters. There were over 12,000 data breaches reported in the US between 2005 and June 2020 that involved over 11 billion records stolen during that time. 2021 saw a three per cent rise in the number of identity theft reports that accounted for 40% of all fraud reports worldwide. For individuals and businesses, it’s essential to keep our data secure as well being mindful of what personal information we publish on social media.

There are ways for individuals and businesses to keep our data secure from identity fraud and data breaches. Here are things to consider to secure your data.

Internet Security Software

It is vital to have internet security software installed onto your devices to keep them protected from viruses and hackers. Internet security systems provide several services such as firewalls and anti-virus software. Many will provide additional features such as a VPN (Virtual Private Network), password manager, and security reports. There are plenty of providers to consider such as McAfee Total Protection, Bitdefender Total Security, and Norton 360 to name a few.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A VPN helps hide your IP address and encrypts your internet history. Our internet history shows our browsing habits such as the websites we are most likely to visit. Information like this is extremely useful for hackers and fraudsters to find a vulnerability in our online profile. VPN providers such as NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN provide desktop and mobile apps to stay encrypted anywhere in the world. If you are unsure how a VPN works, please check out the page here.

Secure Wi-Fi Networks

When you are out and visiting new places or in need of an internet connection, you may connect to a public Wi-Fi hotspot. Although public Wi-Fi is useful when you have no internet signal, they are not secure. You should avoid using public Wi-Fi when possible. However, if you find the need to use public Wi-Fi, try to avoid entering any personal data on websites or apps to stop personal information from being visible to potential fraudsters. One alternative when using public Wi-Fi is to use the VPN providers listed earlier to encrypt your connection.

Password Manager

The basic rule of passwords is not to use the same password for all your accounts (some of you are now worried) and use a complex password that has capital letters, numbers, and symbols. Remembering all these passwords will be difficult, especially for accounts that you use once a year. Password managers provide a perfect platform to store all these passwords and generate new complex passwords when you need to. Most of them will allow you to import passwords from browsers and apps. Providers such as LastPass, NordPass, and Dashlane have subscriptions for personnel and families with the application being accessible on desktop and mobile. You will no longer need to find that notebook full of passwords ever again. For Apple users, Apple provides a complex password generator and vault when you need it so this may not apply to you. If you use a combination of Mac, Windows, and Android devices then a dedicated password manager will be the perfect solution for you.  

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Online accounts have started implementing multifactor authentication methods which cause you to verify your identity via code through an authentication app or code sent to your mobile number. If your service provider has this feature, it is best to enable this feature as an added security barrier to your information. This extra step will help make sure that the correct person has access to the information. You can get the Google Authenticator app for multi-factor authentication.

Social Media

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Linkedin, and TikTok enable us to share our memories with family and the world. With all the benefits, social media has become the perfect personal information-gathering tool for fraudsters and hackers. Many of us post details about our new home, hometown, our birthday, friend’s birthday, children’s birthday, schools, and family anniversaries. Even though you are not thinking about it, you are posting personal information about yourself or your family on the internet.

For example, you can gather your mother’s maiden name if they have a brother that has posted online. People post their birthdays on social media or they will post their birthday celebrations or friend’s birthday celebration online, which mathematicians can use to calculate the date of birth of the targeted individual. Parents may use their children’s names and date of birth as passwords however all that can be gathered from your child’s birthday post on Facebook.

There are some actions to restrict the amount of personal information being present online. First thing is to post less on social media and if you find that a bit difficult, consider making your profile and post only available to friends. The third thing is to tell friends and family to restrict their profiles as well. It might be hard to restrain yourself from posting birthday celebrations but maybe consider telling friends and family to stop posting celebration pictures on your behalf and ask them to send them to you so you can choose whether to post them or not. By taking control of what information gets posted about you or your child, you will be able to limit your exposure.

Keep Software Updated

We all get annoyed when we get a Windows update message halfway through our work and keep postponing the update. By postponing updates you are leaving yourself exposed to potential openings for hackers. Most of the time software updates improve or fix security vulnerabilities in operating systems or applications. By keeping your software up to date, you are decreasing the opportunity for hackers to gain access to your device. Most applications will update automatically but for hardware driver updates you can use a tool such as Driver Booster 9 to update your drivers.

Secure Sites

With the emergence of Google and other search engine platforms, we can find any site and access them with ease. Fraudsters will create a website to imitate well reputable brands such as Amazon, postal services, and other services to gain your trust to enter personal information. Untrusted websites can be identified by the web address. Most of the time fraudsters may miss-spell the name slightly to mislead you to think it is the official website. Another thing to look out for is the padlock symbol in the browser address bar, which indicates whether a website is secure. When you happen to view a page, check the content is accurate and does not have many spelling errors. Fraudsters will try to copy the content of the official website however they tend to rush the development process and you might be able to find inaccurate content, which will help you identify whether the site is legitimate.

Unknown Emails

Avenue fraudsters use to gain your trust is to send emails such as tax returns, Amazon confirmation emails, or missed package delivery emails. The aim is to get you to click on the link and enter your personal information so they can capture your data. There are many ways to identify these fraudulent emails by checking the ‘Sent from’ field. As fraudsters are mostly unlikely to control the official mail address, they will create a fake email address to send emails. Always check the ‘Sent From’ to see whether it is a legitimate email. Another way to identify fraudulent emails is to check the content of the email and see whether there are spelling mistakes. More often than not, fraudulent emails are plagued with spelling mistakes. If you are not expecting a particular email such as a missed package delivery email because you are not expecting anything then the best thing is to ignore the email. Another rule is that you can do a quick search on Google via the content to see whether the email you have received is fake.

Credit Report

Most of the time fraudsters aim to get personal information about you to get a financial opportunity to make money. Personal information can be sold to buyers on the black market, gain access to your bank accounts, or create bank accounts in your name to access cash. Always monitor money going in and out of your known bank accounts as it will help identify whether fraudsters have gained access to your known bank accounts. Now the next question you may have is, how do I know if someone has opened an account in my name? Your answer is your credit report which tells you the amount of debt you owe and what credit card accounts you have open. By checking your credit report monthly you will be able to identify if unknown accounts have been opened under your name and how much has been taken out. By identifying these exposures early on you can prevent fraudsters from taking a large sum of money out under your name. Credit agencies such as Experian, Equifax, and Clearscore can provide monthly credit reports for you.

Summary

As technology continues to develop and evolve to make our lives easier, as more efficient tools emerge, it opens another opportunity for fraudsters to make money. There are many ways for us to keep our identity safe online and prevent fraudulent activities from happening early on. We are responsible for each other’s identity, please be more aware of what you post and implement a couple of methods to enhance your information security. Hopefully, some of the tools and suggestions can help improve your security and bring peace of mind that there are things to help keep your identity a secure.