It’s no secret that cyber-crimes are all over the news. From Ukrainian hackers stealing millions to Syrian Electronic Army hijacking the AP twitter feed and (falsely) claiming that the president was injured, to teens bullying a young girl over Facebook, digital crimes are all over the news.
So, what can you do about it?
First, don’t panic. This is just another crime wave, and we WILL survive it. Secondly, don’t stick your head in the sand and pretend it won’t impact you. Just like muggings in NYC or car crashes on the highway, you or someone you love will be impacted.
Some common sense tips:
1) Talk to your kids (and grandkids) about social media. We both know that they’re going to drink & party in school at college, and not every freshman is over 21. Some of them will also smoke marijuana, drive too fast, join fraternities/ sororities and do all the (stupid) stuff that kids do. Educate them about threats from social media. Remind them that if they’re going to party, the safest course is to turn the cell phones off, and leave them in the bag/pocket/etc. Snapchat, sexting and posting pictures on Facebook will only get them into trouble.
Share this video with them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpOg1Sgmpok (or search YouTube for “raj goel social media”)
2) Protect Your Bank Accounts. See page 3 for excellent tips.
3) Ensure You Have Proper Backups. Whether it’s eFolder at home for your photos, documents and quicken files, or Datto at the office for a complete Backup & Disaster Recovery solution, invest in proper, tested backups. Computers will crash, you will lose your cellphone. Your hard drive will die. Let’s protect your information.
4) Upgrade Your Security At Home And Office. Just as you have deadbolts on your door, and The Club in your car, you have to have proper defense tools. We use and recommend GFI Vipre managed anti-virus and Cyberoam firewalls.
5) Attend one of our FREE seminars, or ask me to schedule one at your office. We invite leading experts including FBI Special Agent Kirsten Ohlson to discuss cyber threats facing businesses in the Greater NYC area.