A recent report highlights the need for Utahns to be better guards against cybercrime. The report, compiled by CCTV Camera World using FBI data, shows cybercrime victims in Utah losing an average of $9,562, making Utah the fifth costliest state for cybercrime on a per-capita basis.
Salt Lake Community College Cyber Security Associate Professor Rod Buhler has seven handy tips to guard against cybercrime.
- Freeze your credit so the bad guys can’t take your money.
- All communication should start with you! Never trust a communication that starts with somebody else, phone, text, email, front door… because you don’t know who they REALLY are.
- Keep your phone number(s) private; hackers are tracking you with it, not just by your social security number anymore.
- Never use your debit card. It’s better to spend someone else’s cash with CREDIT CARD. Then if the account gets hacked, it’s the bank’s money and not your money that they took.
- NEVER use public Wi-Fi. Tether off your phone if you need to. VPN is also a good idea.
- Use 2-factor authentication on all your online accounts; bank, email, school, work, Google.
- Create strong passwords, using capital letters, small letters, numbers and special characters. Use a password manager or my memorization technique. I have hundreds of passwords and never forget one.
Salt Lake Community College offers classes and training in cyber security, including certificates in cyber defense, ethical hacking and cyber forensics. For more information, visit the Salt Lake Community College Cyber Center.
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