Business View Oceania

7 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 A ustralian cyber-crime and scams cost $56 million last year. Despite best efforts, cyber criminals are getting more sophisticated each and every day. In the wake of the September 2022 Optus security breach, where millions of Australians’ personal information was stolen and potentially sold to scammers and other cyber- criminals, protecting against cybercrime and scams is as important as ever for consumers and business owners alike. 1. Nothing left unlocked Though it may be a pain, if your device or application uses passwords to authenticate usage, you need to set them up immediately. It only takes seconds for a hacker or nefarious actor to access your phone or PC without looking if you don’t have a password or other authentication method installed. 2. Use a password manager Every single application, website, and device you use should have its own password that changes regularly. These should be strong combinations of letters, numbers, symbols, and other characters, so they are not easily cracked by hackers using sophisticated cracking rigs. A password manager can help you keep track of passwords across your devices, remind you to update passwords, and keep your master list of passwords encrypted. 3. Use two-factor authentication Two factor authentication (2FA) is another layer of protection to prevent ‘man in the middle’ attacks. You not only need a password to get into a site or application, but you’ll also need a special One-Time Password (OTP) generated by an Authenticator app (Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator) or sent to you via SMS or email. 4. Automatically update your software Out of date anti-virus software is about as useful as a flywire door on a submarine. You need to keep all your software up to date- developers patch up exploits and vulnerabilities or update definitions of malware and viruses so they can catch new variants that may be circulating. Set your software to automatically update so you aren’t caught out. OPENING L INES SAVVY RELEASES TOP 10 TIPS TO PROTECT AGAINST CYBERCRIME