Cybersecurity Awareness

At Mason & Associates, security is always on our mind. We want to encourage our clients to educate and protect themselves to eliminate phishing-related risks. Check out SEM’s recent technology blog post and watch the below phishing webinar if you have not yet seen, or as a refresher. The more you take precautions such as these, the less likely you’ll fall for a cyber-attack.

“Education is arguably the single most important part of any cybersecurity program. Humans tend to be the weakest link, and phishing attacks like this exploit human weaknesses.” 

–Dustin Briles, Director of Technology, SEM Wealth Management

Simple steps to protect your security:

• Do not reuse passwords. 
• Create complex passwords and usernames for every site.
• Create a complex phone password.
• Make sure to change your username and password of your home Wi-Fi network.  Many never change the default password which opens your house to security threats.
• Purchase quality antivirus software and make sure that it is updated and that you have routine scans scheduled (free antivirus software is not as reliable).
• Make sure operating systems (OS, Windows, IOS, Android) are up-to-date.
• Set up multi-factor identification when possible. Go beyond two factors to three or more.
• Avoid using publicly available information as your username and password - information that can easily be found on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
• Consider using a password manager which will store your family passwords securely and help you generate secure usernames and passwords.  The benefit of using a password manager is that your information will be complex and unique to each individual website.  This will help eliminate the redundancy that most consumers have when accessing different websites and prevent the use of publically available information.  Here are some trusted password managers:

1. LastPass
2. Sticky Password
3. RoboForm
4. Your anti-virus (paid solution only) may also come with a password manager, which would be appropriate.