A cyber security expert’s tips on keeping your money safe

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Cash is becoming a thing of the past; internet banking and online shopping are now the norm. There are benefits of living in a largely cashless society, such as instant transfer of payments and being able to pay for your coffee through your smart phone. But as we move online, so do the scams, and cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent. I spoke with a Cyber security expert from one of Australia’s big banks to understand what we can do to protect our money online. Here is what they have to say.

How to create a safe passphrase:

Passwords are a thing of the past. No one should be creating a password under 8 characters, that they recycle for different applications or services. It’s recommended that passwords are changed every couple of months to maintain “security” but in reality, users will simply numerate the password without changing it drastically, which dramatically reduces the effectiveness.

The Australian government now recommends that passphrases are created at a length greater than 16 characters, which only needs to be changed once a year. A passphrase is a sequence of words, for example “tree ratio elope time”.

The easiest way to manage and maintain the huge piles of passwords we have to deal with is to use a Password Manager such as LastPass, 1Password or NordPass. If you secure your Password Manager with a strong passphrase, it will automatically create and take care of all your other passphrases.

Should sensitive applications like banking be used on public WiFi?

My general advice would be to never use public WiFis if possible. Rather rely on your mobile connectivity or a home-trusted WiFi to do any sort of sensitive work. If you find yourself stuck in a foreign country, with only a public WiFi to use, I would strongly recommend the use of a VPN (virtual private network).

Many VPN services are free to use but the monthly subscription services such as NordVPN or PIA (Private Internet Access) provide a higher level of assurance that none of your data being passed through the service is logged or monitored. These services encrypt all data leaving your laptop, and as such it cannot be intercepted by the owner or an eavesdropper on the public WiFi.

How to spot a scam/cyber-attack and how to protect yourself:

Spotting scams is a notorious problem faced by almost everyone. To keep yourself from becoming a victim of an email scam (the most common being phishing attacks) is to simply not click on any links or attachments from a person (or email address) that you don’t trust.

Viruses, malware and ransomware all rely on the user action to initiate the process. If you are vigilant about who you trust, and what you click on, there is a much lower risk of falling victim to a scam.

The safest way to pay for things online:

Online transactions used to be extremely scary for most people, but in today’s era it is the primary way we shop. The safest way to securely purchase things online comes back to the key concept of trust. I would recommend only purchasing off trusted websites.

For situations where you must buy something obscure from a random website in a foreign country, you can leverage services like PayPal to broker the payment for you. In this scenario, your payment details are never passed to the untrusted website.

If your only option is to type in your credit card details, without getting too technical it is quite hard to spot a fake. So, the bottom line should be never type in your card details without trusting the site you are visiting!

What to do if you lose money from a cyber-attack

You should always keep an eye on your transactions either on your banking app or your statements. The first sign that your card number has been stolen is seeing transactions that you did not make. As soon as you notice anything unusual, you should contact your bank and follow their processes. If a hacker steals any funds from a bank, the bank is liable to pay the money back to the customer. The customer will never lose money.

 

Important: This content has been prepared without taking account of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular individual. It does not constitute formal advice. Consider the appropriateness of the information in regard to your circumstances.

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