Technosafe…
Bottom Line Secrets
Changing passwords isn’t enough to stop them
Recent news that Russian hackers had stolen more than 1.2 billion passwords from 420,000 websites sent shudders through computer users. But what dangers do you really face as a result of these kinds of increasingly common data breaches?
Unfortunately, the risks can be far greater than most people realize. Stolen passwords can result in financial devastation…or even medical disaster. The risks vary greatly depending on the type of account involved. Here’s a look at the real dangers you face when criminals steal your online IDs and what you can do to reduce those risks…
Of course, always read account statements carefully and contact the financial institution immediately if you spot any activity that you don’t recognize.
CREDIT CARD AND BANK ACCOUNTS
There’s a major gap in the federal laws that restrict your potential losses if cybercriminals run up fraudulent charges on your credit cards or drain money from checking or savings accounts at a bank or credit union-business bank accounts are not covered. The rules…
With personal and business credit cards, your out-of-pocket losses are limited by federal law to no more than $50. Many card issuers now have zero-liability policies and do not make cardholders responsible even for this $50.
With personal bank savings and checking accounts—and the debit cards linked to them—you generally are not liable for unauthorized debits stemming from cybercrime as long as you report the debits within 60 days of the date on the first bank statement that lists the unauthorized transactions. Fail to report the unauthorized transactions within 60 days, however, and you could be responsible for all of the losses.
Note: Your liability is slightly different if someone is able to steal money from your bank account by getting your physical debit card. If that occurs, you are liable for as much as $50 if you report the loss of the card to the bank within two days…up to $500 if you report it within three to 60 days…or potentially for all of your losses if you report it after 60 days. Some debit card issuers offer zero-liability policies—that is, they will cover any cardholder losses to fraud even if federal law says that the cardholder could be liable for some portion of them—but these generally do not cover ATM and PIN-based transactions. However, MasterCard is extending its zero-liability policy to include these.
With business bank accounts, you could be saddled with all of the losses. Cybertheft from bank accounts has driven some small businesses out of business. Your bank is likely to be held liable for business account losses only if it failed to offer “commercially reasonable” security procedures. What to do…
- Monitor bank and credit card accounts closely for unauthorized activity.
- Update your account passwords in the wake of the recent data breach.
- If you have a business bank account, keep the number of employees who have access to the account information to a minimum. Make sure that you have a password that you can use when making transactions over the phone in addition to Internet passwords. And ask your bank if it can recommend additional security procedures to maximize the account’s security. Example: It might be possible to restrict anyone from making sizable online withdrawals or transfers out of the account from any computer other than the one that you normally use.
- Ask your insurance agent if your coverage protects you against cybertheft from your business bank accounts or if such coverage is available.
E-MAIL ACCOUNTS
A cybercriminal who learns your e-mail account’s user name and password could parlay this information into access to your financial accounts.
Example: This criminal might search through your e-mails for messages from financial companies that you work with, then send you e-mails that appear to be from these companies. If you click a link in one of these e-mails, you’ll be routed to what appears to be the financial company’s site—but if you enter your user name and password into this page as prompted, you actually will divulge your private account information to the criminal.
What to do: If you get an e-mail with what appears to be a link from your financial institution, do not click this link. Instead, go to the institution’s website as you normally would. If you cannot find the page related to the e-mail on the website, call the investment company and ask for directions—and confirmation that the e-mail was genuine.
For advice on how to create the most secure passwords, see “How to Create the Best Password” at BottomLinePublications.com/password.
Source: John Sileo, president of The Sileo Group, a Denver-based identity-theft-prevention consulting company. He is author of Privacy Means Profit: Prevent Identity Theft and Secure Your Bottom Line (Wiley). Sileo.com
For full article see : https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Montserrat-Reporter/203080105851 – “Hackers Could Ruin Your Life”
