Tips to Protect Your Financial Data

Globally, there are millions of people that suffer from financial loss due to online hackers.

There are, however, many things you can do to stay safe. In this blog, we have given five helpful tips to keep in mind whenever doing a financial transaction online.

Make Sure the Website is Secure

A common practice used by hackers is phishing, which can be done with the use of hyperlinks that allow the attackers to lure their victims to unsafe websites. To ensure you are not being led to an unsafe website when you are asked to click on a link to carry out your transaction, hover your mouse over the link and check the link to see if you are being led to the right place. If you see something suspicious, do not click the link.

Most of the leading anti-virus endpoint security suites also have features built in to protect against rogue websites. For example, the majority of our customers use McAfee with Site Advisor that prompts whenever it spots a suspected phishing website.

Use Payment Cards with Care

Many of us rely on the security offered by our banks so our guard is often down. Scammers are becoming more convincing and manage to deceive unsuspecting people into falling into their traps.

Make sure you use credit and debit cards with care. When making payments online, spend a few moments making sure the website is genuine and you are not being directed somewhere suspicious.

Do Not Provide Personal Information to Unknown People

Most malicious emails are caught by anti-spam filters so don’t reach your inbox, but some emails will get through and can look convincing. Some commonly used emails ask you to confirm personal details (such as bank information), or suggest your computer requires upgrading or has a security breach. You may even receive an email informing you that you have won something. The best way to deal with any of these emails is to delete them. Do not respond or click on any links.

Some of the messages used in emails are also used in telephone calls from unknown callers who request personal or company information. Never give any information to an unknown caller, however convincing they may seem.

Only Use Banking Apps from the Banks

If you do want to carry out financial transactions on a mobile device, only install banking apps that are supplied by your bank. Do not use third party applications that could be compromised with malicious software.

Use Wireless Networks with Care

There are free wireless hotspots everywhere and it is very tempting to use them, but if you are slightly suspicious about the source, don’t use it. Some wireless networks can be used to harvest information, so use them with care.

Security at Work

Whilst the above tips can help you and your colleagues prevent your financial data or information getting into the wrong hands, your organisation’s IT still has to be kept as secure as possible.

To do this, we supply and configure WatchGuard firewalls and McAfee Complete Endpoint Protection to protect our customers. These use state of the art technology and heuristics to help prevent internet based threats.

We also recommend our PatchSafe service which ensures all your PCs are automatically updated with the latest security patches.

If you have any concerns about your organisation’s IT security, please contact Vantage IT and we would be happy to advise what improvements can be made.