How cyber savvy are you?

How cyber
savvy are you?

Technology
& Innovation

Cyberattacks
are the nation’s fastest-growing crime. Review these tips for keeping your
personal information safe.

Do you know
the difference between a vishing and a smishing attack? Or that spear phishing
doesn’t happen in the ocean? Cyberattacks are the fastest-growing crime in the
U.S. – and they cause personal and business devastation every day.

Because
technology – and the schemes to manipulate users – changes so quickly, it’s
important to be in the know. See how well you stack up:

What’s
the No. 1 type of cyberattack?

Ransomware,
and experts say it’s a growing concern. A type of malware that encrypts a
victim’s files, ransomware allows the attacker to demand money to restore
access to important documents or photos saved on your hard drive.

What’s
the difference between phishing and spear phishing?

Phishing is
the attempt to gain usernames, passwords and credit card numbers by
impersonating a trustworthy sender in an email or other digital communication.
This might entail disguising their email to look like someone you know or
including a link to a fake website to trick you into entering private
information.

Spear
phishing is tailored to one individual and may mention an upcoming trip or a
child’s name, for example.

How many
different versions of phishing are there?

Unfortunately,
there’s a growing list of phishing scams. But there are two popular ones to be
aware of:

Vishing is a
voice version of phishing. The caller pretends to be from law enforcement, the
government or a bank and will try to gain access to Social Security numbers,
account numbers or other personal information by asking the victim questions
for “verification” purposes.

Smishing is
an SMS (or text) version of phishing. You know those automated alerts from the
credit card company or PayPal? It might be disguised in that way.

Next
steps: How to protect yourself

Criminals
are getting more sophisticated. But you can combat the risk by putting these
protections in place:

• Be diligent about not
  sharing information. It might be fun to answer a silly quiz on
  Facebook but criminals can use this to gain access to security question
  answers, like your first dog’s name or the street you grew up on.
• Use multifactor
  authentication, which requires two or more authentication factors to
  access devices, applications or online accounts.
• Browse in “incognito” mode so
  local search history is not stored and cookies are blocked.
• Use secure passwords that
  include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
  Make sure each password is at least 12 characters and doesn’t contain
  personally identifiable information. Pro tip: Use a password
  management app to help you create and organize them.
• Use a virtual private
  network (VPN) to create an encrypted connection between your
  devices and the internet that hides your online activity.
• Regularly back up files to a
  local external server or a cloud server. At least you’d have access to all
  your files in case of an attack.
• Look for the “s” in
  “https.” It stands for secure, and it must be there when you’re
  entering your credit card or banking information to make a purchase. This
  alone does not mean a site is secure, but it certainly should be a red
  flag if it is not there.
• If you are unsure if a call you
  answer is a vishing scam, hang up and dial the company
  you believe is trying to reach you – for example, your bank – directly.

Pendle Hill Advisors
is proud to contribute to the Montgomery County News with our weekly column. If
you have questions related to this article or your financial situation in
general, please give our office a call.

Kent Pendleton, AAMS®

Financial Advisor, RJFS

Pendle Hill Advisors LLC

14375 Liberty St, Ste 109 | Montgomery, TX 77356

T 936-297-8267

Kent.Pendleton@raymondjames.com | www.raymondjames.com/pendlehilladvisors

Securities offered through
Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory
services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.
Pendle Hill Advisors is not registered broker dealers and is independent of
Raymond James Financial Services.

Sources:
pcmag.com; us.norton.com