Spring 2017

ASSOCIATION & COMMUNITY NEWS
CYBER SECURITY TIPS
YOUR INFORMATION IS OUT THERE
Steve Burns
Community Awareness
Committee Chairman
How secure is your
personal information?
Most people don’t tend
to think about cyber
security until they are
the victim of a data
breach. For one-third
of those victims it goes
far beyond having your
private information sold or even receiving
fraudulent charges on your credit cards. That’s
because an estimated one in three people
who experience a data breach will become an
identity theft victim. Banks and credit card
companies will easily reverse false credit card
charges but clearing up the issues caused by
identity theft can be difficult to say the least.
This problem continues to grow annually.
According to a 2016 Identity Fraud Study,
over $15 billion was stolen from 13.1 million
U.S. consumers in 2015. This staggering
number doesn’t even take into account the
identity thieves who used their victim’s
health insurance benefits, and even their
social security number for various reasons.
Unlike property crimes, or other crimes of
opportunity, hacking of computers and smart
devices is a round-the-clock occurrence.
Data thieves target small companies, large
companies, and individuals alike. The
practice has become so commonplace that
learning institutions including Paradise
Valley Community College are now offering
classes in Cyber Security.
The scope of computer hacking can be
illustrated by the frightening statistic
that an estimated one million plus pieces
of malicious software being published
each day. According to research done by
cyber security giant Symantec, thieves are
working faster than companies can defend
themselves, and launching more malicious
attacks than ever before.
Even the cyber security industry’s top experts
will tell you that if you are connected to the
Internet it is virtually impossible to completely
protect yourself from malicious activity. There
are however, a number of things you can do to
reduce the likelihood of becoming one of the
millions of victims this year.
Passwords—Use different and randomly
generated passwords for each and every
Account that you log into. Avoid using
names of children and pets as passwords.
Birthdays and anniversaries should also be
avoided. You may need to use a password
manager such as 1password or LastPass to keep
track of the passwords you end up generating.
Shop with a credit card—Credit card
companies offer protection for fraudulent
credit card charges, but not all debit cards
offer as much protection. Plus, if your debit
account is hacked, not only can a criminal
drain your bank account, but it can take
weeks for the bank to finish its investigation
of the fraud and reimburse your account.
Check your statement—Don’t set that
unopened statement in your pile of bills
before opening it to check for bogus charges.
Don’t just look for large charges, either.
Hackers often “ping” an account with tiny
charges to check the viability of the account.
So if you see purchases of 1 dollar or less, that
could be a sign your information has been
compromised.
Back it up—Back up your computer, phone
and tablet on the cloud. Try to remember to
38
| Desert Ridge Lifestyles | Spring 2017
desertridgelifestyles.com