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Protecting Yourself from Cyber Extortion

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You might not think that you could ever be a victim of cybercrimes, but you would be incorrect. You are just as much of a possible victim than anyone else, and you have to know how to protect yourself.

passwordOne of the easiest ways that hackers can get victims is to trick people into clicking links in emails or opening attachments. Something as simple as this can easily lead to viruses and other security issues, like ransomware, and no one is ready to deal with this.

Cyber extortion is on the rise, and it involves infecting a computer with ransomware, which means the victim will not be able to access their files unless they pay money via bitcoin to the attacker. This software is installed when the victims click on links in emails.

Many of these emails ask for information that is sensitive. If you get one of these emails, you should have alarm sounding off. If you don’t, you could, blindly, give the hacker information about you, such as your passwords, account numbers, or worse.

Extortion Prevention

Here are some things that you can do to prevent yourself from cyber extortion:

  • Install a password manager software
  • Don’t use the following in your passwords: words or names that are obviously yours, any keyword sequence (ZXCVB), any password under eight characters, or anything easy to guess.
  • Make sure every account has a unique password.
  • If an account offers it, enable two-factor authentication. Each time you try to log in, you cannot gain access to the account unless you insert a one time code, which is delivered to your phone via text. If someone contacts you and asks for a code like this, you should hear alarm bells in your head.
  • Create passwords with a mix of letters, symbols, and numbers. Randomly choose these like a toddler would if they were typing and add them to your password manager.
  • Don’t ever click on any link that comes to you via email unless you confirm its legitimacy with the sender. A single click might download a virus, or you might be directed to a site that can lure you into typing your username, password, and other information. A red flag that you might be at risk of doing this is if you get an email that says, “Your Account Was Suspended.”
  • Often, these emails seem like they come from a source you trust like PayPal, a bank, the IRS, or your employer.
  • You also might see a sense of urgency in these emails, such as “Act within 24 hours” or “You must…”
  • Don’t open any attachments including those from a person or company that claims they want to offer you a job.
  • Do not post any sensitive personal information on your social media accounts. Hackers can use this information to figure out login information.
  • Have a business email account and a personal one.
  • Don’t connect to public Wi-Fi and do anything like shopping or banking. If you don’t have a choice, you can browse by using a VPN, virtual private network.

Some of this might sound like a pain, or even inconvenient, but believe it or not, you are a target for hackers, and they are just waiting for you to take the bait.

Written by Robert Siciliano, CEO of Credit Parent, Head of Training & Security Awareness Expert at Protect Now, #1 Best Selling Amazon author, Media Personality & Architect of CSI Protection Certification.

Prevent Bitcoin Fraud by Securing Your Identity

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Are you thinking about jumping onto the Bitcoin train? If so, you might be worried about security. The truth is, Bitcoin is definitely secure, but as with anything, there are bad guys out there who are ruining it for many. Bitcoin identity theft is when a criminal steals your identity and poses as you by phishing your passwords or hacking your computer. Here are some common cryptocurrency scams that can be prevented and some tips to protect yourself:

Bitcoin Private Security Keys:

What are they? A Bitcoin private key is a number only you should know, a secret number which allows bitcoins to be used in commerce, traded, exchanged etc. Bitcoin wallets contains the private keys and are mathematically related to all Bitcoin addresses generated for the wallet.

How do they work?

When a private key is entered in a wallets “transaction” window meant to move your funds from one wallet to another, the transaction is broadcast and sends the balance to a new address in another wallet. Simply, they are for spending and sending your bitcoins to anyone and anywhere.

How to get one?

This secret, alphanumeric password/number that is designed to spend and send your bitcoins to another Bitcoin address. Is a 256-bit long number which is picked randomly as soon as you make a wallet.

Protect Your Security Keys

The private key “ticket” allowing its owner spend bitcoins and like cash, they must kept secure. Private keys are usually stored on computers, and can be printed on paper.

Again, it’s so important that you protect your private security key. Remember, if someone gets this key, they can spend your currency.

Backup All Security Keys

If you are using private keys for your cyber currency, make sure that they are backed up on a offline

You Give Up Your Private Key

Another mistake that people often make is to give up your private key. Again, cyber criminals can get this information through your email or maybe over the phone. They also can hack into your computer and access your key if you have it stored there.

Preventing It

Keep your devices as secure as possible using security software and keeping your operating system updated. Maybe always store your private key off of your computer. You can write it on paper or store it on a USB drive. Make sure to keep this information locked up somewhere, like a safe or safety deposit box.

Cyber Thieves Steal Passwords

Many people use services to store their currency. However, to access these, you must have a password, and cyber thieves know this. So, they break into your email, ask your chose storage service to reset the password, and this gives them access to your currency.

Preventing It

To prevent this, make sure to use two-factor authentication for both your email account and your cyber currency storage account.  And don’t use the same password (password re-use) for any critical accounts.

The Bad Guys Start Impersonating

You also must make sure that you don’t get scammed by a bad guy impersonating a cyber currency employee. They might, for instance, contact you over the phone of via email about initial coin offerings. They ask you to send Bitcoins to them for fundraising purposes, but then promise that you will get that back with a return on that investment. Wrong. They just steal it.

Preventing It

Always confirm that you are investing in legitimate companies. Contact them directly

Keeping Your Bitcoins Safe

There are other things that you can do to keep your cyber currency safe, too:

Use a VPN for Your Transactions

When trading cryptocurrency, make sure to use a virtual private network, or VPN. These networks scramble your data so hackers, even if they access it, can’t read it.

Keep Separate Wallets

Instead of using a single wallet for all of your currency, it’s best to have at least two; a “hot” wallet, which is used for your various day to day transactions, and a “cold” wallet, which is where you store your currency. Think of it like a checking account (hot) and savings account (cold.)

Additional Security Tips

Finally, here are some additional security tips to keep all of your accounts safe:

Password Tips

  • Make sure every online account you have has a long, strong password. This should be a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Also, make sure that you have a unique password for every account.
  • All passwords should be 8 to 12 characters. Use both upper-case and lower-case letters, and make sure that you aren’t making it easy to guess. For instance, “hwR7os$9*” is a much better password than “IL0veD0gz.”
  • Use two-factor authentication on all of your accounts. This way, even if someone gets your password, they can’t get into your accounts unless they also have access to your cell phone.

Antivirus Tips

  • Antivirus software is required, but it’s not going to keep your devices completely safe. Yes, this software will keep the vast majority of viruses and bugs out of your system, but not all of them.
  • Make the investment and buy your antivirus software instead of using a free one. The paid versions come with other services like firewalls and antispyware. This helps to keep your information even safer.

Updates to Your System

Finally, make sure that you are always updating your computers, tablets, and smart phones. Yes, those pop-ups are annoying, but try to resist clicking the “remind me later” option. Many times, these updates contain important security updates that protect your device and data from becoming vulnerable. It’s also a good idea to set up automatic installation of these, so you never have to worry about it.

ROBERT SICILIANO CSP, is a #1 Best Selling Amazon author, CEO of CreditParent.com, the architect of the CSI Protection certification; a Cyber Social and Identity and Personal Protection security awareness training program.

Bitcoin Scams Up the Ying Yang

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If you are thinking of jumping onto the Bitcoin bandwagon, or any type of cryptocurrency, you have to make sure that you are watching out for scams. There are a ton of them out there, including the following:

Fake Bitcoin Exchanges

You have to use a Bitcoin exchange if you want to buy or sell Bitcoins, but not all of them are legitimate. Instead, many of them are created for the sole purpose of taking people’s money. Only use well-known exchanges.

Ponzi Schemes

Bitcoins are not exempt from Ponzi schemes, and you have to look out for these. These are like pyramid schemes, and you definitely don’t want to get caught up with this, as you will certainly lose your money.

Fake Currency

You have certainly heard of Bitcoin, but there are other cryptocurrencies on the market, too, as alternatives to Bitcoin. However, there are also fake ones. For instance, one of these, My Big Coin, was fake, yet the people behind it managed to take more than $6 million from customers.

Well-Known Scams

Bitcoin scammers also rely on old school, well-known scams to trick people. They might, for instance, send emails pretending to be the IRS or even having some type of Bitcoin sale. People fall for these scams every day. If it seems weird, like the IRS emailing about Bitcoin, it is most definitely a scam.

Malware

Malware is another associated scam with Bitcoin. Most, or all wallets are connected online, scammers can use malware to access the account and take your money. Malware can get on your computer in a number of ways, including from websites, social media sites, and even through email.

Fake News

We live in an era where online news is the most popular method to get news, but it’s also very easy to create news stories that seem totally legitimate, yet they are absolutely fake. Basically, scammers create these stories to bait victims, so always think before you start clicking.

Phishing

These Bitcoin scammers also use phishing scams to try to get money from people who are trying to buy and sell Bitcoin. These scams are often done by clicking malicious links.

It doesn’t matter if you join the Bitcoin craze or not, you can also use these tips to keep yourself safe from other scams. Here’s some final tips:

  • Always do a security scan on your laptops, computers, phones, and tablets on a regular basis.
  • Do your research before investing in any cryptocurrency website. Make sure it is trustworthy and secure.
  • Store all of your cryptocurrency in a wallet offline, which keeps it protected from scammers.
  • Always monitor all of your banking, credit card, and cryptocurrency accounts.
  • Always insist the crypto site has two step or two factor authentication.

Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of Identity Theft Privacy: Security Protection and Fraud Prevention: Your Guide to Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft and Computer Fraud. See him knock’em dead in this Security Awareness Training video.