Credit Professional 2018 Spring_2018_magazine | Page 17

Protect Your “Cyber Home”
With a Solid Foundation
Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Here are simple steps you
can take to secure your
computers and mobile
devices for Internet
banking and shopping
Your home has locks on the
doors and windows to protect
your family and prevent thieves
from stealing cash, electronics,
jewelry and other physical
possessions. But do you have
deterrents to prevent the loss or
theft of your electronic assets,
including bank accounts and
other information in your
personal computers, at home
and when banking or shopping
remotely online?
"Think about all of the access
points to and from your
computer—such as Internet
connections, email accounts
and wireless networks," said
Michael Benardo, manager of
the FDIC's Cyber Fraud and
Financial Crimes Section.
"These always need to be
protected. Otherwise, it's like
leaving your front door wide
open while you are away so
that anyone could come in and
take what they please."
Consider these strategies.
For Banking by Computer
or Mobile Device
Take extra precautions for
logging into bank and other
financial accounts.
These measures include using
"strong" user IDs and
passwords by choosing
combinations of upper- and
lower-case letters, numbers,
and symbols that are hard for
a hacker to guess. Don't use
your birthdate, address or other
words or numbers that can be
easy for con artists to find out
or guess. Don't use the same
password for different accounts
because a criminal who obtains
one password can then log in to
your other accounts. Keep your
user IDs and passwords secret,
and change them regularly.
Make sure to log out of financial
accounts when you complete
your transactions or walk away
from the computer.
Consider using a separate
computer solely for online
Continued on page 17
The Credit Professional
16
Spring 2018