What most organizations tend to forget in the race to digitizing their businesses is the importance of having a security blanket to protect user data. The Internet of Things is upon us and whether people like it or not, their lives will be connected to the cloud.
Every information that people input in the internet, no matter what companies say, can be tracked, retrieved, and abused. Users can use some precautions to minimize the damage in the event of a data breach. While financial institutions are considered as the most secure among all the other industries, hacking cannot be totally ruled out.
Here are some tips to help you protect your account.
1. Change passwords regularly
In his book The Art of Invisibility, famous hacker Kevin Mitnick advises internet users to routinely change passwords and make them a lot complicated. He suggests using Password Manager but if you don’t want to, you can always write the passwords on a piece of paper but don’t make the account names obvious. If it is for your Apple ID, maybe you can write Orange or Banana. You don’t always have to complete the passwords. When you have the first few letters, you are sure to remember the rest. Also, don’t make the site remember the password. If somebody gets hold of your computer and he or she logs in to your account with username and password in it, say goodbye to your savings.
2. Use 2FA
These days, most websites offer an extra layer of security called two or multi-factor authentication. Make use of it. It requires more than just a username and password to be able to log in to your account. Some websites will send numerical codes to the mobile number you have provided.
3. Keep software or apps up to date
It is important to ensure that software and apps are up to date. More often than not, these apps are fixing a vulnerability that cybercriminals may be able to exploit. If the app says the update is needed to “fix bugs,” chances are there is some sort of flaw that may be exploited.
4. Do not use public Wi-Fi when accessing bank account
“Unsecured network.” When trying to connect to a public Wi-Fi, you will see a disclaimer that it is an unsecured network. Then don’t attempt to log in to your account because hackers and criminals might be sitting next to you at a cafe. They could dupe you to logging in to a duplicate network that they created where they can easily access and monitor your online activities.
5. Enable notifications
Somewhere in the account settings is the option to enable notifications every time you log in to your account. This way, if you received a notice of a log in that you didn’t make, you can easily call the bank and block the transaction.
6. Log out
People have this habit of not logging out because they think it’s their device anyway. But in the event of losing the device, you cannot guarantee that you have fully logged out. There are banks though, that automatically logs out after a few minutes of inactivity. But just to make sure, always log out of your banking account.
7. Check your account periodically
Even if you think there is not much activity in your account, always check it. Log in when you have a downtime while working or surfing the internet. You should be able to see your account’s activities and can quickly notify the bank of any unusual movements in your bank account.
While online banking offers so much convenience eliminating the queuing in the bank, it also has its risks. But then, you can minimize those risks by being careful of your own online activities.
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