Keep your data secure online
30 October 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the way we work, shop and communicate with others – we’re relying a lot more on technology. This means there are more opportunities for fraudsters and cybercriminals to steal our data and profit from it.
Recent high-profile data breaches linked to business, fitness and social networking apps and websites pose a huge global cyber threat. Breaches can mean passwords, email addresses and phone numbers being identified and sold for criminal purposes.
The kind of information that is usually stolen includes:
- passwords
- bank details, credit and debit card information
- national Insurance number
- medical information which identifies an individual
- contact details
- date of birth
- address
What you can do to reduce the risk
Social media:
- deactivate old unused online accounts
- check your privacy settings on social media accounts
Email:
- use strong, unique passphrases on email accounts
- turn on two-factor authentication on sensitive accounts
- do not use personal email accounts for company business
- deactivate old unused email accounts
- unsubscribe from mailing lists – these are digital trails leading back to you
Devices:
- set a password or PIN use fingerprint recognition so that it can’t be accessed by other people if you lose it
- delete unnecessary apps and update the rest regularly
- only download apps from trusted sources and check reviews before downloading
- check access requested by apps – are they necessary?
If you think you’ve been the victim of a scam or fraud, please report to Action Fraud online or by phone: 0300 123 2040.
You can forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and send text message scams to 7726