How to Reduce Your Exposure to Cybersecurity Threats

At WrapManager, we take your data security very seriously. With all the media coverage of data breaches in the media today, we wanted to provide information that could help reduce your risk of being compromised with a short list of suggested ways to protect yourself while still enjoying the ease of managing your life using email and the internet.

Here are few things you can do to improve your cybersecurity:

• Consider making requests regarding your account by phone and make sure there is a verification process in place at your financial institution for withdrawal of funds;
• Use strong passwords and change them frequently. A strong password consists of at least six characters (and the more characters, the stronger the password) that are a combination of letters, numbers and symbols (@, #, $, %, etc.) if allowed. Passwords are typically case-sensitive, so a strong password contains letters in both uppercase and lowercase;
• Do not share passwords across sites;
• Do not use any part of a social security number or other easily identifiable information such as titles as part of a password (this includes children's names, pet's names, etc.); 
• Verify the authenticity of requests from companies or individuals by contacting them directly at a known phone number, not a number included in a suspicious email; 
• Opt for real-time alerts - almost all banks and some credit card companies will allow you to be notified immediately when a transaction takes place and will contact you in case of "unusual" activity on your card; 
• Enable two-step verification - many sites will allow users to activate two-step authentication. This is an added security measure to protect against hackers trying to gain access to your account; 
• Know what you're installing - it's necessary to check that an app is coming from a trusted source so you're protected. Similarly it's imperative that users read the permissions section before installing the app on your phone. The reason to do this is that there could be malicious apps that want to access sensitive personal information from you which may be used later against you. When you read the information section, it will tell you what type of information the app may have access to such as location, contacts and even your phone's camera; 
• Always shop from trusted sites - malicious sites fool users into giving their credit card details that can be used by cyber-criminals to access someone else's money. When shopping online always make sure that in the URL bar the site address starts with 'https://'. If this isn't the case, there may be a possibility that the network isn't secure, and thus it's unwise to enter any sensitive information; 
• Make sure your computer has up-to-date software designed to update a computer program or its supporting data, to fix or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs. This is called a Patched Operating System. 

Stay tuned for more security articles to help you keep your personal data safe. If you have any questions about the security of your account or any request that doesn’t feel right, please call your Wealth Manager at 1-800-541-7774 or contact us here.

If you want to learn more about protecting yourself, read the pamphlet from TD Ameritrade, “Safeguarding against identity theft.”