3 ways to increase your cybersecurity right now
It takes more time and effort to practice safe cybersecurity, but once you realize what you’re up against, you’ll realize it’s worth taking the extra steps to protect yourself.
The last thing you want is for your information to end up on the dark web.
“Every bad possible criminal thing that you could think of to buy and sell is available on the dark web,” said Lisa Plaggemier, Director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance.
Chance are, some of it is already there.
“Data, credit card information, social security numbers that are for sale, bank account credentials, including your bank balance, so that somebody knows whether or not you’re worth trying to steal from,” Plaggemier explained on the Rich On Tech Radio Show.
“These are businesses and time is money for them so they’re going to use technology to their advantage,” said Plaggemier.
If you’re not taking proper precautions, your personal data could be at risk, but so are businesses, friends and family.
“We need to think about our loved ones too. So, older folks, aging Americans, they don’t get defrauded as often but when they do the dollar amounts are high.”
If you think your reused password variations can trick anyone, think again.
“Problem is, they’re going to take that password and versions of it you know, tweak it a little bit using software. They can do this at scale really quickly and they’re going to try that on every other account out there and they can do it in minutes,” said Plaggemier.
For this reason, use a password manager to generate unique logins. I like iCloud Keychain if you’re only using Apple Devices, Google Password Manager if you use an iPhone with Chrome. Bitwarden is a great free password manager and Dashlane is an excellent paid option.
Two-factor authentication is a must. Go with an app over text-based codes when possible.
“That’s that thing where you know when you go to sign on to your bank account you have to have a text or a push notification from an authenticator app before you can get into your bank account,” explained Plaggemier.
Keep your software up to date on all of your device and be aware of social engineering tactics, which continue to get better.
Here’s an example of an email I got just this morning that seems to be an invoice for a tech support subscription. What they really want me to do is call the number to dispute the charge. That’s when the scammers will try to steal any and all of your personal info and bank details.
Plus, they’re getting better and better.
“With the help of AI, the bad guys are getting a lot better at creating phishing emails, texts and phone calls that make it harder and harder for us to tell that somebody’s trying to to trick us,” concluded Plaggemier.
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