‘Tis the season for online shopping, holiday parties, and cyber crime. We’ve discussed it in the past and it is important enough, we are talking about it again. For many small businesses and individuals, this is a wonderful time of year for shopping, eating out, and merry making, but unfortunately it is also a time of year when we see increased activity by cyber criminals.
Small Businesses
While cyber attacks on large businesses often make the news, small businesses are more often the target of cyber criminals. This is often because small businesses, or businesses that are just starting out, have not developed appropriate policies and procedures or may not have invested in adequate software to prevent cyber attacks.
If you own a business, now is the time to review your online security practices and reevaluate the security measures you have in place. It's also important to review your insurance policy to make sure you have the right insurance to help you recover should there be a security breach. If you're not sure what your policy covers, or if you're not even sure what questions to ask when it comes to setting up the right policy, give us a call. We can review your policy, explain what it means and most importantly explain what coverage you may need and why.
Personal Protection Against Cyber Crime
Because thieves can glean information in the real world and use it to steal one's identity as well as steal information online, it's important to protect yourself in all aspects of your life. Keep the following in mind the shopping season to help protect yourself:
- If you are going out of town, have a trusted friend pick up your mail, or put a hold on your mail until you return. Mail theft is one way thieves steal sensitive information they can use to steal your identity.
- Use a secure internet connection, like a VPN. This keeps potential thieves from being able to see past your VPN’s encryption protocol, keeping your activity obscured and your information protected.
- Make sure your computer software is uptodate. We know it can be a hassle keeping up with the latest updates, but you can be sure online thieves are keeping up, and they know which software has which bugs. They can use these bugs to their advantage and it can be easier for your system to get hacked.
- Be diligent when browsing websites. Only use trusted websites, if you're not sure about a site, double check the domain name for spelling errors or mistakes, look for reviews, and look for the padlock symbol. The padlock symbol is used by chrome, safari, internet explorer, and firefox to indicate a “safe” website.
Incase the worst happens
Despite all of the precautions we can take, sometimes thieves still get through. If this happens, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and know that we’re on your side, ready to help. Below you will find helpful hints for what to do should you find your identity has been stolen.
- Call your local police department or go online to report the crime. Unless you are facing imminent harm, do not call 911. Look up you police departments non emergency line (usually listed on their website) and give them a call
- You can report the incident to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at Identitytheft.gov or you can call 1.877.438.4338.
- Alert your bank(s), cancel your credit cards/debit cards.
- Add a fraud alert to your credit report.
- Contact your insurance agent. As we’ve discussed in past blogs, many homeowners’ insurance policies offer identity theft or cybercrime coverage. If you are not sure about your coverage, give us a call and we can help you ensure that you're protected.
We hope these tips have helped remind you to stay diligent this holiday season and have provided some peace of mind.









