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Erick Murray
Today, I want to talk about a topic that doesn’t always come up in financial planning conversations, but it is absolutely essential. That being cyber security. We talk a lot about protecting your money, but protecting your personal data and your online accounts is going to be just as critical for you. In fact, poor cyber security protocols that are put into place can completely derail even the best financial plan put out by experts.
In this video, I want to talk to you about three key areas where you can protect yourself. The first one being how to protect your accounts. So first let’s start with the foundation. When it comes to protecting your accounts, whether that be your bank account, your investment accounts or even different kind of budgeting tools that are connected to them, they’re all going to be associated with sensitive financial information.
If someone gains access to any one of them, it could have serious unwanted consequences. First, you want to use strong, unique passwords for every single account. I know it may be a pain using a different password for every single institution that you’re signed up with, whether it’s Bank of America, Chase, Fidelity, Vanguard. But when it comes to data security, if one of these passwords are breached and you share them across all these different platforms, you’re now vulnerable and are at risk for a data breach on all of the other accounts.
One way that you can be able to use different passwords without having to have the headache of it, is using a password manager. This can help create and securely store complex passwords so you don’t have to remember them all. Next step could be turning on multi-factor authentication or MFA whenever possible. I know this might sound like a pain, but this means that even if someone has your password, they still can’t get into your account with a second code.
Usually this is sent over to your phone or email, so it’s one of the easiest, most effective ways to protect that sensitive information. And also it will be another line of defense if you get a message or an email and you didn’t log into those specific accounts, is a good way for you to know that you need to go back and change those passwords.
Or you can call a helpline to help you assist with that. And one of the more important things is avoid using public Wi-Fi for financial transactions especially. This includes even just checking your balances or logging into those sensitive investments to check out the performance on them. And even it comes down to sending sensitive emails at the coffee shop.
Whether you’re waiting for your plane at the airport, or whether you’re lounging at a hotel. This is why this topic seriously matters when it comes to it. Public Wi-Fi is unsecured. Anyone on that network, including a potential hacker, can intercept what you’re doing online. And even if their website looks secure, you could be connected to a fake Wi-Fi network set to look like the free hotel Wi-Fi that you’re using or the Starbucks Wi-Fi.
This is a very common tactic, and something that you might not even know that you’ve actually been a victim to. So it’s always good to be on the safe side and use either your phone’s mobile data or use a secure network like a VPN. These usually add an extra layer of encryption to ensure that you’re not browsing the website on the same kind of chain that someone else might be using.
Secondly, you want to make sure you know how to recognize these financial scams. Scams are no longer just about shady phone calls or fake sweepstakes. Today’s scams are a lot more sophisticated, targeted, and often look completely legitimate, especially with the development of AI. Phishing emails and texts are the most common ways that you get these kind of scam messages, and they often look like they’re coming from your bank, your credit card company, or even a financial advisor you work with.
They might ask you to click a link, verify a login, or update different information, but behind that link is a bad guy on the other side that’s just willing to take your information. What should you really look out for when you get these spam messages? Poor grammar or spelling is a big indicator that this might not be a legitimate message.
Another thing to look out for is urgent messages that pressure you to make a decision fast. Usually when someone’s asking you to make a decision that’s really rash or out of the air, it can put a sense of fear into the person that receives them, and they decide that they want to go out and do whatever it might be.
One of the most common ways that scammers use to get money out of you is by asking you to buy gift cards and send them over in the mail. Also, be cautious of phone calls, even ones that sound official. Some scammers can pose as the IRS, different banks and institutions, and they use spoofed phone numbers that look real.
And with the evolution of AI, the ability to sound just like some of these individuals that you might have talked to on the phone, can become more of a reality that’s unexpected and something that can cause a lot of confusion. Ultimately, if someone calls you unexpectedly asking for personal information, hang up and call the company using a verified number.
That verified number can be something that you got from a previous message with the company that you’re working with, or it can be from a website that the company provides. I really want to emphasize this because this is where people often fall into traps. Financial scams don’t just target the elderly, they target anyone who has money to lose.
So it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to getting these kind of fraudulent messages. So we’ve gone over a lot of different ways we can detect a lot of different cyber threats. But lastly, I just want to go over how can we safely share and store the sensitive information that we send out to other people?
In our industry, we often exchange a lot of different documentation that contains highly sensitive information, whether that’s tax returns, account statements, insurance policies. All of these could be absolute gold to cybercriminal. That’s why it’s very important to share documents through a secure channel. If your advisor that you work with offers a secure client portal, use that instead of an email.
These portals are encrypted and designed for safe document exchange, and if email is the only option, make sure those documents are password protected and send the password in a separate message or phone call just to be on the safe side. On your own personal computer or cell phone, be thoughtful about how you store files. A lot of these kind of things, like your phone or laptop, can be easily lost, so making sure you have the right kind of protocols in place can go a very long way in ensuring your safety.
Avoid keeping those sensitive documents in your downloads folder or your desktop, and even consider using cloud storage that offer these kind of encryption devices, and also use two step authentication or multi-factor authentication. If you do prefer using offline storage as opposed to cloud, using an encrypted external hard drive or a USB drive can be a great way to ensure that you’re keeping your data safe.
Also, don’t forget to backup important financial records, whether it’s cloud based or physical. Having a backup protects you if your device ever gets lost, hacked, or damaged. I know this might sound like a lot, but it’s really about developing a system. One secure way to send, one secure place to store, and one secure backup. That’s it. Just to wrap things up, cyber security may not seem like part of your financial plan, but it absolutely is.
In today’s world, with all the advancements in artificial intelligence and the technology advancing at a rate that’s unprecedented. Protecting your identity and your accounts is just as important as protecting your portfolio. The good news is that with just a few smart habits, you can make a big difference in your online security. If you enjoy what you saw today, please feel free to leave a like and subscribe to the channel.
And if you like this style of content, we have a lot of different videos on our YouTube channel that go into different kinds of topics that revolve around our industry. Thanks for watching and we hope to see you soon.