Protecting Against Cyber Crime: 5 Ways to Protect Your Business from Identity Theft
With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated, cybercrime has never been more prevalent. It is vital for your business to be aware of the risks and protections against cyber threats, which is why we caught up with managing director Gordon Christie on the importance of protecting your business from cybercriminals. Here are his five top tips for protecting your identity and Protecting Against Cyber Crime Aberdeen.
With the focus on computers and the cloud, many everyday objects keep getting overlooked when considering identity theft. It’s important to have strong passwords and use antivirus on your PC however, you need to keep in mind the other ways that hackers and thieves can access your personal data.
Restore and Recycle Old Smart Phones
According to research, individuals will replace their smartphones every two and a half years. This leads to old phones lying around that can contain a vast amount of personal data.
Smartphones contain people’s lives in them – they contain synced connections with cloud services, banking, business and health apps – storing all your information in one device and as chip technology advances, smartphones have been able to hold more “stuff.” Meaning that documents and spreadsheets can now be easily stored, along with reams of photos and videos.
Therefore, cybercriminals could easily strike data theft gold by finding an old smartphone, as they often end up at charity shops or in the bin.
At IT Hotdesk, we recommend that you have a policy in place that ensures employees' work phones are restored to factory settings before being recycled or destroyed.
Be mindful of your wireless devices
Wireless printers can leave your data at risk. A wireless printer becomes part of your home or work network as they connect to the internet, therefore, by conveniently printing from another room you can leave your data at risk.
Printers can store sensitive documents, such as paperwork or contracts. Most people don't think about printers when putting data security protections in place, leaving them open to a hacker getting data from the printer. They could also leverage the printer to breach other devices on the same network.
At IT Hotdesk we recommend that people protect their printers by ensuring firmware is updated, updates are installed and printers are switched off when not in use so that your printer is not accessible to a hacker.
Be careful when using borrowed USB’s
Have you ever run across a USB stick laying around? Perhaps you thought you scored a free removable storage device, or are you a good Samaritan that wants to return it to the rightful owner but needs to access it to find them?
You should never plug a USB device of unknown origin into your computer. Hackers can plant malware on these sticks and then leave them around as bait. As soon as you plug the USB into your device, the hacker can infiltrate your machine and access all of your data.
Speak to an IT professional for help
When you are disposing of an old computer or old removable drive, make sure it’s clean. Just deleting your files isn’t enough. Computer hard drives can have other personal data stored in the system and program files.
Plus, if you’re still logged into a browser, a lot of your personal data could be at risk. Browsers store passwords, credit cards, visit history and more.
It’s best to get help from an IT professional to properly erase your computer drive. This will make it safe for disposal, donation, or reuse.
Shred any unwanted documentation
Identity theft criminals aren’t only online. They can also be trolling the neighbourhood so be careful what you throw out in your bin.
It’s not unusual for rubbish to enable identity theft. What you consider “junk mail” can actually contain vast amounts of personal data. Your rubbish could contain pre-approved credit card offers, voided checks, old bank statements or insurance paperwork, all that contain personal information that thieves can use to commit fraud or pose as you.
A shredder can be your best friend. Before you throw them out, shred any documents that contain personal information, this extra step could save you from a costly incident.
At IT Hotdesk, our team of IT experts are on hand to help keep your business safe. If you’d like more information on how we can help your business, sign up for a free 30 minute consultation with me.
Protecting Against Cyber Crime Aberdeen