Staying safe from cyber-threats

Scam emails (aka phishing emails) are one of the biggest threats we face both inside and outside of the workplace. Some of these emails may be easy to spot however there are others which can look quite sophisticated – these days, spotting phishing emails and messages is becoming increasingly difficult.

We understand that most businesses have their own processes and procedures when it comes to reporting scam emails so the information below is more suited to assist you outside of the workplace. IT teams or similar may use the below resources in addition to their own protocols.

If you are suspicious of a message you have received via email or text, there are steps you can take:

• Don’t use the links or contact details in the message you have received.
• Go back to something you can trust (e.g. the phone number on the back of your bank card).
• Check with the official source if in doubt by visiting their website directly (not via the email) or phoning them directly on their official number.

Often the sender will pressurise you into using a link with some hint at urgency and there may even be an attempt to dissuade you from using official contact details to verify the contents of the message.

Suspicious emails can be reported by forwarding it to [email protected] and texts can be reported by forwarding it to 7726.

Ransomware attacks is when a malicious software locks your important files and demand payments for their release. These types of attacks can be detrimental to a business so it’s important to understand what recovery would look like in these instances and how your business would be able to operate should it experience a ransomware attack.

This can often be coupled with social engineering  which works by building false trust, exploiting human error, and using persuasion to gain access to sensitive or confidential information and is proving to be another major threat to companies.

Data breaches occur when sensitive or confidential information is accessed or exposed without authorisation. These breaches can happen due to various reasons, including inadequate security measures, vulnerabilities in systems, or insider threats.

Your personal email is the gateway to your other online accounts, so keeping it secure is paramount. If your email is compromised, not only will cyber criminals have access to important information about you, but all of your other passwords can be reset.

Using the same password for all your accounts makes you vulnerable – if that one password is stolen, your other accounts could be accessed.

It’s good practice to use different passwords for the accounts you care most about, but remembering lots of passwords can be difficult. Saving your password to your browser is quick, convenient and safer than re-using the same password.

Weak passwords can be compromised in seconds. These are usually short, have little complexity and are easily guessable.

It’s possible to make passwords more difficult to guess by using a sequence of three random words, and symbols, you’ll remember e.g. Water!PhilosophyZebra$

This is a free security feature that asks you to provide a second piece of information to check you are who you say you are, such as a unique code received via text message or email during the login process.

This extra layer of protection helps prevent cyber criminals access your accounts – even if they have your password.

Sometimes this may also be called 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi Factor Authentication (MFA).

Cyber criminals exploit weaknesses in software and apps to access personal information. Providers continually work to fix these weaknesses by releasing regular updates. Keep ahead of criminal attempted by updating your devices and apps regularly or set your devices to do so automatically.

If your device has been compromised, your sensitive personal information could be lost, damaged or stolen.

Keep a copy of your most important information by backing it up to cloud storage or a separate device. This ensures that if something was to happen to your device, you would have spare copies of your most important data.