[InFocus Newsletter, Summer 2018] Keep Your Digital Self Safe

July 2018

My recent summer read "President in Missing" by James Patterson and Bill Clinton stirs imagination by describing an apocalyptic cyber attack on the US - how in a matter of hours, the country's financial, legal and medical records will be erased; the transportation and electrical grids will crash and America will be plunged into the Dark Ages. Cyber experts assure us that this scenario is just a figment of imagination and the biggest threat we face is at an individual level as our day-to-day lives migrate more and more into the digital world. Given that shift, we need to become increasingly savvy when it comes to protecting our sensitive data, particularly our financial information.

Cyber-criminals continually come up with new ways to try and trick us, so they can obtain our personal information -- be it passwords, Social Security numbers or credit records. This month's InFocus looks at various ways you can become more diligent about cybersecurity to help keep your identity to yourself.

Dream. Plan. Prosper.

YOUNG AND VULNERABLE: CYBER THIEVES TARGET 16-UNDER

Many under the age of 16 don't have much money, a line of credit or even a job. Cyberthieves don't care. They have made this group of youth their No. 1 target for identity theft. Jared Hoffman is a cybersecurity specialist with the BAM ALLIANCE and a member of InfraGard, a partnership between the FBI and the private-public sector that shares information and analysis in an effort to fight cybercrime.

In this video

Jared Hoffman explains why children are being targeted like never before, gives signs that may indicate that a child's identity has indeed been compromised, and offers preventative steps to keep this from happening to a young person that you love.

KNOWING THE SOCIAL LANDSCAPE

S ocial engineering is the act of cyberthieves attempting to manipulate people into giving up their sensitive personal information. Social engineering comes in many forms and has its own language -- it's also known as human hacking and can take the form of phishing, smishing, vishing and spoofing, to name just a few.

Our Cybersecurity Chronicles gives you a graphical, guided tour through the social engineering landscape to help put on alert for the various ways that the bad guys are trying to trick you.

| RELATED ARTICLE: Ways to Identify Fraudulent Emails

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Entering passwords has become a regular part of our routine, whether we are signing in to our computers, unlocking our phones, or logging in to our favorite websites or apps. Passwords help protect our most sensitive data but too often we use ones that are simple and easy to crack. It's like leaving our digital front door unlocked. Tighten your digital defense by doing the following.

1. Use a combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Make sure it's at least eight characters in length. Check the strength of your password here.

2. Protect your password diligently by never writing it down, sharing it with others and changing it frequently.

3. Sure it's more convenient, but don't let your browser remember passwords for you.

4. Use password management software, such as 1Password, Dashlane or KeePass. A password manager creates different, complex passwords for each of your accounts, but you only have to remember one master password.