Yesterday I was at a briefing by the Federal Bureau of Investigation New York Office, which went over an array of “white collar” crimes. The crimes covered:
???? Stealing data from ATM machines with a fake, card swipe device
???? Stealing credit card data using a portal credit card swipe machine (double swiping at a restaurant for example – one legit and one not)
???? Con artists who prey on unsuspecting people, especially the elderly, to steal their money
???? All sorts of digital theft.
???? and more…
Business have to be reminded (hence this post) that your precious business data, be it customer information, your own personal data (social security numbers, credit cards numbers, etc), contracts, banking information and so much more are all accessible via the Internet in many cases.
It is critical that you ensure you and your staff are safe computer users.
This is where security starts, first and foremost. Where the individual is aware of her digital surroundings. Not clicking on email messages, “from your bank” and not giving out your social security number to the “IRS”
It is also important that you work with a local computer consultant to ENSURE that your network, computers, mobile devices and peripherals are secure.
Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO of Comodo (an internet security and services company) said that another smart thing businesses can do to protect themselves is to ensure that their bank account access and other sensitive information has a two levels of security. Passwords is level one. But your bank and other account providers should also enable you to have another level of authentication – such as picking an image, picking a phrase, inputting another code.
Your password alone, is often not enough protection. But having a double layer of authentication will further harden your information and make it much more difficult for hackers to steal your data.
Ramon Ray is the editor and tech evangelist for Smallbiztechnology.com
