Here’s how to keep safe online. This advice is provided by Report Fraud, a service operated by the City of London Police as the UK’s national reporting centre for cyber crime and fraud. It replaces Action Fraud.
Hackers won’t miss any opportunity to carry out cyber attacks so always try to avoid scams and stay safe. They often do this by targeting people and businesses using:
- email and website scams
- malware – software that can damage your device or let a hacker in
If hackers get into your device or accounts, they could access your money, your personal information, or information about your business.
How to Keep Safe Online – take 6 actions:
Use a strong and separate password for your email
If a hacker gets into your email, they could:
- reset your other account passwords
- access information you have saved about yourself or your business
Your email password should be strong and different to all your other passwords. This will make it harder to crack or guess.
Create strong passwords using 3 random words
When you use different passwords for your important accounts, it can be hard to remember them all.
A good way to create strong, memorable passwords is by using 3 random words. Do not use words that can be guessed (like your pet’s name). It’s a good idea to include numbers and symbols. For example, “RedPantsTree4!”
Save your passwords in your browser
Saving your password in your browser means letting your web browser (such as Chrome, Safari or Edge) remember your password for you. It’s safer than using weak passwords, or using the same password in more than one place.
This can help:
- make sure you do not lose or forget your passwords
- protect you against some cyber crime, such as fake websites
Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)
Two-factor authentication (2FA) helps to stop hackers from getting into your accounts, even if they have your password. It means the website you’re using will send you a message – usually by text or email. Some use authenticator apps. Clicking the message confirms that you are who you say you are – and not a crook!
Update your devices
Out-of-date software, apps, and operating systems contain weaknesses. This makes them easier to hack. Companies fix the weaknesses by releasing updates. When you update your devices and software, this helps to keep hackers out.
Back-up your data
‘Backing up’ means creating a copy of your information and saving it to another device or to cloud storage (online). Backing up regularly means you will always have a recent version of your information saved. This will help you recover quicker if your data is lost or stolen.
For more information, and step-by-step instructions, please visit cyberaware.gov.uk
Avoid Scams and Stay Safe
Online criminals are using an increasing number of ways to target businesses and individuals. They use various ‘hooks’ to lure us into phishing emails and fake websites, to get malware and viruses onto our devices. To steal credentials, access webcams, commit fraud and hold us to ransom.
Some examples are below, and the advice is always the same.
- Think before you click
- Go to the organisations’ genuine website rather than clicking on a link in an email
- Check the detail of the URL or website address
- Avoid clicking on links on emails and text messages
- Don’t rush to give away personal details
- Don’t assume everything you receive is genuine
As always, please report any online crimes and fraud to Report Fraud – we recommend reporting by phone. Especially Ransomware and Denial of Service attacks. They are classed as live cyber crimes.
Ransomware is one of the biggest concerns for businesses. Report Fraud has a range of resources to explain what it is, how to protect yourself and what to do if you are infected.
BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
There’s umpteen types and almost all of us use at least one of them. Social media and electronic communications is brilliant – when it’s used properly. But awful when it’s not… You MUST always be careful and watch out for scams, hacks and generally bad stuff.
Here’s a bit of advice from Visit Fylde Coast. We are by no means experts at cyber security – this is basic advice as we know it.
- DON’T just click on anything and everything. If it looks odd it probably is.
- PLEASE stop sending videos and memes in messenger. That’s how viruses spread online.
- ACCEPT friend requests ONLY from people who you know in real life
- CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD if you have any trouble, anything odd happens to your account, or people get messages that you didn’t send.
- PASSWORDS should be a long combination of letters, capitals, numbers and characters like £!&
- DO NOT use the same password for multiple websites. Ideally you should have a different one for every site you log on to.
- Above all keep your wits about you. If it looks too good to be true, or it feels dodgy – it probably is.
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