Cyber Crime Protection

[LazyDog]

It seems know that we have virtual currencies, the cyber attacks have really step up.
Thinking outside the box, how would you protect against this crime on your personal stuff like bank saving, IRA plans, etc.

Is the phone more secure than a PC computer???

 

[simple_gifts]

Two factor authentication, (password and TXT, password and email etc) and use extremely arbitrary passwords and usernames of extreme length.

I have a separate virtual machine I do my banking and transactions on; i only visit trusted sites and it gets shut down when I am done. No saved passwords, no saved usernames for me. JMO.

Basically social engineering is the biggest threat as a user just posted about earlier; people are the weakest link Mat Honan found that out.

Cousin got scammed by remote . How do we fix it ?

i know we have some pretty smart computer guys here and would like to ask for some advice. My cousin runs a small biz and got duped by a scammer. he got an email that seemed reputable . he thought it was from a large accounting software company that starts with an I that he uses to do payroll...

bobistheoilguy.com

The inside story of how hackers destroyed Mat Honan's digital life

Mat Honan fell victim to a multipronged attack by hackers this past weekend, and he's just published an exhaustive piece at Wired detailing the incident.

www.theverge.com

 

[Donald]

Both your phone and PC will use SSL or now TLS to communicate with the bank, etc. That assures you that the bank you are looking to access is the one you have reached. Not some malicious one trying to fool you. It also encrypts all your session data including the userid & PW. Doubtful anyone will intercept that session data and be able to decrypt it.

But for phone or PC one could have clicked on a bad link, etc and now the device is compromised. So a malicious person could install a keylogger on your device and get a lot of what you type. Multifunction may help.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

It seems know that we have virtual currencies, the cyber attacks have really step up.
Thinking outside the box, how would you protect against this crime on your personal stuff like bank saving, IRA plans, etc.

Is the phone more secure than a PC computer???

A couple of thoughts: Delete all junk emails from friends/family. Increase the security setting of your browser and/or set it to "HTTPS Only".

The HTTPS-Only Standard - The HTTPS-Only Standard

Resources, best practices, and case studies for deploying HTTPS in the federal government.

https.cio.gov

 

[LazyDog]

Both your phone and PC will use SSL or now TLS to communicate with the bank, etc. That assures you that the bank you are looking to access is the one you have reached. Not some malicious one trying to fool you. It also encrypts all your session data including the userid & PW. Doubtful anyone will intercept that session data and be able to decrypt it.

But for phone or PC one could have clicked on a bad link, etc and now the device is compromised. So a malicious person could install a keylogger on your device and get a lot of what you type. Multifunction may help.

What is Multi function???

 

[Andrew1972]

It seems know that we have virtual currencies, the cyber attacks have really step up.
Thinking outside the box, how would you protect against this crime on your personal stuff like bank saving, IRA plans, etc.

Is the phone more secure than a PC computer???

A Windows PC computer is most vulernable to cyber crime.

A phone depends on if browser apps used vs the installed apps. I personally use Mac computer. Make sure all your accounts have 2 factor enabled and text message for passcode to me is better but experts can weigh in if email is more secure.

My 81 year old dad who has been cyber conscious for years uses an older iPad till you can no longer updates he iOs for all these kinds of transactions.

 

[TumblrDucks]

Nowadays as password protection getting better, more and more attacks utilize social engineering to break into system. Always keep an eye on phishing emails/text messages, double check if you are conducting sensitive operations on correct URL addresses, and, refrain from talking too much private affair online, etc.
Other things also matter, like keep system up to date, duo factor authorization, eliminate password reuse and not surfing sketch places.

 

[Donald]

What is Multi function???

Sorry - should be multi factor authentication. Was it me or spell checker?

 

[Donald]

OK, I am involved in computer security, but most of what I read these days is involving companies that can pay $$$$. And have critical data. That is not the case with individuals. We do not have much money we would pay to recover the data. Most people would just buy a new PC if theirs got encrypted.

I back up my data once and awhile. To a RAID 1 disk system. Then unplug it for another few weeks until I back it up again.

 

[928]

For a password use something like the vin# of your car- easy if you forget it, just use half of it

 

[PandaBear]

I don't have much valuable stuff on my PC that is not copied to external drive and powered off. Basically just family photos that is copied to 2-3 times and then stay powered off indefinitely and stored in my parent's home just in case my house burn down. Ransome won't likely get much from me. Banking wise I am using reputable bank / CU that should be reasonably handle my account, the bigger problem is likely TD Ameritrade as they cannot even handle MEME stock trade without shutting down during a squeeze.

Smart phone won't be much better than a Windows PC, and OSX can also get hacked too, so there's that. I try to keep my work / business / finance stuff away from my play stuff so hopefully less chances of them infecting each other.

Currency may be virtual but it is still safer than receiving a fake $50 bill if you are dealing with a major bank.