Protecting your personal financial information
We’ve all come to rely on apps and digital services for everything from banking to shopping. But as convenient as the online world is, it also means a lot of your personal and financial information lives on the internet—and that makes it a target for cybercriminals.
Recent cyber-attacks on well-known Australian companies have reminded us just how important it is to protect our data. The good news? There are simple things you can do to reduce the risks. Here are five easy tips to help keep your information safe online.
Tip # 1. Don’t use personal or family information
Personal information like your son's birthday or the name of your dog is easy to recall, which is why it is often used to create passwords, but it’s also easy for hackers to guess if they research you on Facebook or have access to personal information, like stolen mail from a letterbox or an email. Especially avoid family names, pet names and your place or year of birth.
Tip # 2. Use a passphrase with a combination of letters, numbers and characters instead
Try using a memorable passphrase with 12 characters or more instead and then abbreviate it in a way you’ll remember. This is a great way to instantly boost your online security. An example may be: Margarita Pizza is The Best, which could be expressed in a password as '*MaPiisThBe!*' Easy for you to remember, hard for a hacker to guess.
Tip # 3. Use unique passwords/phrases for each app or website
Create unique passwords or phrases and change them often. Don’t be one of the 53% of people that reuse the same password for multiple accounts. Many recent high profile breaches are a result of credential-stuffing, where hackers rely on people to re-use the same password across multiple apps and websites, so they “stuff” a stolen password into as many websites as possible and eventually succeed in breaching something where they can get access to funds or deeper personal information. Be sure to change joint account passwords if you no longer share access with another person too.
Tip #4. Use a password manager
Use a password manager like LastPass, or many others on the market, to organise and manage your passwords. Don’t use a spreadsheet! It takes a bit of time to set-up a password manager, but your online interactions will be safer and more convenient as you’ll be able to autofill password forms, making online admin a breeze. Password managers will also prompt you to improve your online security if you have too many weak or similar passwords.
Tip # 5. Embrace multifactor authentication
Increasingly websites and apps are providing the opportunity to prove our identity more than one way, a process called multifactor authentication. A password is still required, but we are then asked to further validate our identity by answering security questions or entering a one-time limited code sent by email, SMS or via an authenticator app like Google or Microsoft offer. While it can be frustrating to take this extra step, it means your data remains secure even if your password is compromised. For this reason, multifactor authentication is fast becoming the gold standard in personal cyber security.
What we're doing to help keep your data safe
At FMD, we’re constantly reviewing our own cyber security processes to keep your financial information safe. Your FMD Financial Adviser will never respond to a request for funds by email without calling both you and the financial institution first. We have moved access to important documents to our secure client portal iFact Find, which has strong encryption and multifactor authentication, specifically to protect client data.
If you have any questions about how we protect your data, please talk to your FMD adviser.
General advice disclaimer: This article has been prepared by FMD Financial and is intended to be a general overview of the subject matter. The information in this article is not intended to be comprehensive and should not be relied upon as such. In preparing this article we have not taken into account the individual objectives or circumstances of any person. Legal, financial and other professional advice should be sought prior to applying the information contained on this article to particular circumstances. FMD Financial, its officers and employees will not be liable for any loss or damage sustained by any person acting in reliance on the information contained on this article. FMD Group Pty Ltd ABN 99 103 115 591 trading as FMD Financial is a Corporate Authorised Representative of FMD Advisory Services Pty Ltd AFSL 232977. The FMD advisers are Authorised Representatives of FMD Advisory Services Pty Ltd AFSL 232977. Rev Invest Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative of FMD Advisory Services Pty Ltd AFSL 232977.