Protecting Your Personal Information in Today’s Digital World: Program Recap

Today’s Digital World

As technology advances, so do the digital threats that many people face, especially when it comes to your personally identifiable information. With more devices connected to the Internet and part of our daily lives, the greater the opportunity that our personal information can fall into criminal hands. There are more cybercriminals today that are constantly utilizing new tactics and techniques (social engineering, ransomware, etc.) to financially harm innocent people and organizations. As more and more people and groups fall to efforts of cybercriminals, the amount of losses continues to rise. However, we control the power in the digital landscape by being proactive in determining what personal information is shared and how that information is shared.

Top Scams and Frauds

• Identity theft, phishing, and pharming
  • email, malware, spear phishing, whaling, smishing, and vishing are common examples and tactics
• Phone scams
• Debt collection
• Fake government officials
• Scam text messages

The goal of many of these efforts is to secure your personal information that can be used to assume your identity, gain access to your devices, manipulate your finances, or sell that information on the dark web. One of the most common outcomes related to falling victim to these crimes is credential compromise, where cybercriminals gain access to usernames, passwords, emails, and security question answers. On average, people have at least 100 different accounts that require a password, yet password reuse is rampant. While it can be very difficult to come up with unique passwords for each and every account we have, using a password manager or a variety of word phrases mixed with numbers and symbols can help protect our accounts should one of our passwords become compromised. You can also enable multifactor authentication so provide another level of security to your accounts and even help secure compromised accounts. You can visit https://haveibeenpwned.com to see if your email address was affected by a data breach.

It may seem obvious to avoid these types scams and frauds in our daily lives, but cybercriminals are always developing new ways to manipulate us through social engineering or our human nature. Emails, phone calls, and text messages may contain legitimate looking verbiage and requests, such as verifying personal information, confirming personal details, or visiting external sites to complete a task. Oftentimes, there is a sense of urgency related to the message or a threat of repercussions for not completing the requested action that can prey on our good nature. Email addresses, logos, caller ID, and phone numbers can all be spoofed to appear as if they are coming from a legitimate sender. It is important to pay very careful attention to each message you receive and always confirm with a sending organization from a trusted phone number or email that the request is legitimate.

Protections

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself is to ensure all of your devices are equipped security programs/apps that can detect and remove any viruses and malware. You can also install a VPN (virtual private network) service on your devices to encrypt your data and device information when connecting to any service through the Internet. Most cellular service providers offer a VPN service for an additional charge. Be sure to enable automatic updates on your devices to ensure that all of the latest security patches are installed in a timely manner.

When dealing with text-based messages, pay very close attention to the information that is included. Do not trust the display names of the sender as that can be easily manipulated; try to find the actual email address from where the message originated. Check the message for common grammatical errors or typos; however, AI is making it much easier for cybercriminals from other countries to communicate in perfect English. Before click on any links, see if there is anything unusual about the link. Hover your mouse over or press and hold on hyperlinked text to see full web address; it is often very easy to spot a scam or fraudulent message when the real web address of the link is revealed. Check how the message was addressed; general greetings can be a tall-tell sign of a scam. Lastly, be wary of any messages that demand action by a certain date or timeframe; for time sensitive issues, most places will send a letter in the mail.

The Social Media Conundrum

Social media is a very different beast when it comes to protecting your personal identity and information. A vast majority of us do not read the licensing agreements when installing a program or app on our device; we prioritize ease of use and functionality over personal security and privacy. Apps in particular collect mounds of data from our phones back accessing other programs, contact lists, audio and image content, or the use of our microphones. They then often sell this data to advertising companies and other third-party partners who can use it to target you for specific products and services.

When dealing with apps, particularly social media apps, there are ways to limit what information the app can access after installation. Users can alter app settings to reduce data collection by modifying privacy settings and opting out of permissions, declining or disabling permissions, reducing content posts, employing a VPN, or timely deletion of posts. We can adjust privacy settings including disabling location sharing, turning off cookies, and limiting the types of information these apps can share with third-party partners, a common way app companies make money. Trying opting out of tracking and personalized advertising to restrict the amount of information social media apps share with third-party partners. However, be aware that many apps require some amount of data collection for the app to function. It all comes down to the question of whether your personal information is worth the data that the app is collecting and potentially selling.

Best Practices

Here are some best practices to consider when using digitally connected devices:

• Use strong, unique and complex passwords, changing them regularly
• Implement multifactor authentication
• Install anti-virus and firewall protection on all devices
• Apply software patches and run system updates regularly
• Ensure wi-fi security, such as using a VPN
• Practice device security
• Protect your personally identifiable information as much as possible
• Stay informed about phishing tactics
• Implement parental and security controls
• Practice email security

More Information

If you would like more information about staying safe online, the types of scams and frauds, report a cybersecurity incident, or efforts to enhance cybersecurity at the state level, please visit https://www.cyber.nj.gov/. If you have any questions or would like guidance regarding a specific compromised situation, please contact Patricia Tamburelli at ptamburelli@cyber.nj.gov.

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