As more and more people are shopping online -- a record $3 billion in sales was racked up this past CyberMonday alone -- ever more thieves are active in cyberspace. That means you have to pay even more attention to cybersecurity.
Not only do you have to be careful with online purchases, you have to be aware of how you're buying. Cyberthieves can now steal information from public WiFi systems.
There are also the old standbys of cyberthievery, including "phishing," where personal financial information is solicited through emails and "malware," which is nasty software that is downloaded directly onto your computer.
Note that today's cyberthieves are incredibly enterprising. They are stealing money and information any way they can. Here's a sampling of their diverse thievery, courtesy of RSA Security:
-- Mobile is the new cybercrime target with 60% of overall fraud originating from a mobile device and 45% of total transaction volume stemming from mobile devices.--
-- A new phishing attack is launched every 30 seconds costing global organizations $9.1 billion annually.
-- 1 in 20 malware attacks result in ransomware, and the average ransomware cost per victim is $300.
-- The top retailers that are impacted by eCommerce fraud include: online money transfers (19%) travel & hospitality (15%) and business services (13%).
How You Can Protect Yourself
There's much you can do to avoid cyberattacks. Here are some quick tips from security experts Deep Instinct and a few of my own:
1."Identify your valuable data: Understand which types of data can be attractive to hackers and create safety procedures as it relates to access, storage and back-ups.
2.Encrypt your data: It is worthwhile investing in encryption technologies to protect valuable data and render it useless – or at least lower its value through layering its accessibility." At the very least, invest in quality internet security software and keep it up to date.
3."Conduct vulnerability assessment & penetration testing: It’s vital to test your network and applications. Using a vulnerability assessment will help discover flaws in the system. Once flaws are identified, conduct penetration testing to carry out attack-simulated scenarios to gain an in-depth understanding of its degree of severity and how it can be remediated." This is a little tricky if you don't know how to do it, but every security package will give you alerts and allow you to run regular scans. Use this feature on a regular basis.
4. Get some cyber education: Take the time to learn about phishing and malware and how to prevent these scams. Here's a brief guide on how to avoid cyberscams.
5. Only deal with secure retail sites. The biggest online retailers have already taken steps to secure your financial information. Don't deal with sites you don't know and trust. and don't make any transactions with debit cards.
