CHC DI Group

What We Will Cover Securing your devices and computers. Passwords. s. Safe browsing for shopping and online banks. Social media.

Your Data Would you leave your wallet lying visible in an unlocked car? Portable and mobile devices often contain more personal data than a wallet. Identity theft can happen in an instant but can take weeks if not months to be rectified.

First Step Make sure that you have anti-virus, spyware detector and firewalls active. There are free versions and Windows 8 has a built in anti-virus and firewall. Set all to Automatic Update. Do not switch off.

Securing Your Devices/Computers Lock down your devices especially phones and tablets. This is usually with a pin number or password. Install anti-virus on all devices and install any updates, including system ones, whenever they are issued. Set tracking – this can also be on your computer or laptop.

Securing Home Network WiFi Change the default Administrator password and user names. Turn on encryption e.g. WPA2-PSK [AES] is probably the best for home use as it does not restrict WiFi speeds. Change the default SSID on your WiFi.

Tablets Some tablets have a function that sets two passwords – One to access the tablet and Two for access to the security settings. In-app purchases can lead to massive bills if not controlled. Be careful in allowing apps to access your contact list.

Passwords Passwords should be easy to remember and difficult to understand. Passwords are cracked by software and not individuals. The most common passwords are: , password, , qwerty… ad nauseam. Not hard to crack. Names of children, pets, your house, etc. should be avoided as they can be picked up from social media sites.

Selecting a Password Do not use the same password for your online bank as for your social media account. Passwords can contain capital and lower letters, numbers, symbols and spaces. The minimum of characters is 8. For example, an online bank password can be based on “Where my money is” and can look like “£ wH5r5 m1 m0n55&LS”.

Password Security & Remembering Do not write down your password and stick to your computer screen (common). Do not store on your tablet, phone or computer in plain text. Write down the base phrase/password and remember your default character substitutions.

LOG OUT You can set the log out after idle time or just to be sure, manually log out.

s s are an essential business and personal tool. So you cannot really do without them. They were the main way to spread malware but that has now changed. This does NOT mean that they still are not used for spreading malware.

Basics Do not click on a link, open an attachment or respond to any s claiming to come from your bank. Go to the bank’s website by typing in the address in a browser or phone them to check. Sometimes opening an can lead to malware being downloaded.

Basics Do not respond to any requesting personal details, especially log in details of a site you visit. If you are sending s to many people hide their addresses by using BCC and not CC. Do not use an to defame or denigrate someone.

Social Media Security Do not share personal details. Photos of your home. All public information shared on Social Media profiles can be found using search engines.

Facebook Lock down your account so only immediate friends can see your posts. Do not accept requests from unknown profiles. Do you want to be found? Set yourself as hidden, only you can initiate a friendship.

Twitter Lock down your account so only approved followers can see your Tweets. Remember that Tweets can be Retweeted unless the settings are altered. Following a person or organisation makes you visible to them.

Useful Links Secure your Facebook account: Secure your Twitter account: Private

Phishing Scams – What Are They? Scammers claiming to be banks, ISPs and ICT companies etc. in order to access your login details. They will usually have some personal information in order to convince you of their ‘legitimacy’. They are usually operated via , phone or website.

Phishing Scams – s And Websites Fake websites or s designed to look like legitimate organisations. Their aim is to trick you into sharing personal information such as passwords and bank details. Legitimate sites and s that you are a member of will never ask for your personal details.

Phishing Scams – Phone Calls A person claiming to be from an ICT company or Internet Service Provider etc. They will show you standard errors and try to take over your computer remotely in order to gather personal information. Never let anyone connect to your computer remotely.

Useful Links Identify Phishing s: on-how-to-identify-a-phishing-or-spoofing- Identify Phishing phone calls: frauds

Online Shopping Always read the Terms & Conditions. Where is the item shipping from? Make sure the URL is secure.

Online Banking Type your bank’s URL, do not follow links. Never use public wireless networks. Never share your password with anyone.

Rapport Compatible with all banks. Identifies if the website is legitimate. Protects your personal information.

Download Rapport Free to use. More information: centre/rapport.html?DCMP=OTC-rapportFURL Download Link: banking/g1/banking-safely- online/rapport/download.ashx

Automatic Updates Keep your computer and its internet security software up to date. Automatic updates should check daily. Windows automatic updates. automatic-updating-on-off#turn-automatic-updating-on- off=windows-7

Adam Telford Williams Tel: Web: