Social engineering… What is it? How can we protect ourselves?
Most people have a basic understanding of social engineering, knowing that this is a method used by hackers to infiltrate our computer systems or online accounts. Social engineering is the scam which allows hackers access to your personal life without using an icky complex code. The social engineering scam may seem a complex one but scarily it can be quite simple. The attacker will use an array of methods to attempt to extract relevant information which can be key for stealing your identity or financial information. Ever seen those Facebook posts which say “Your porn star name is the name of your first pet and the street you grew up in”? Do these questions seem familiar? You may have set up standard security questions and answers as a safety net in case you are locked out of your account, however being too truthful can be a bad idea, especially if certain information is readily available about you online such as your address or date of birth, the address issue really mostly affects small business owners who register their business against where they live, then of course that individuals date of birth is available to view on Companies House! Yikes!
You should always be wary of the information you are posting online but it can be exhausting to always be switched on. It is important to be vigilant with the information you share, even to family and friends. Your security answers do not have to be the name of your first pet, it just needs to be an answer you won’t forget. Put a country as the answer for your first pet or answer ironically. Be sure that you remember these and don’t write them down anywhere…..
We all know you’re going to forget your passwords, memorable data, and any other relevant information around any of your online accounts, its human nature, and majority of us will forget over time, this is where MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) comes in. With MFA you can use more than one method to log into your account, i.e password, and email or SMS authentication. Some online accounts such as Microsoft and Google can provide you with authenticator application for your smart phone or tablet, which will provide you with a time based or one time passcode (MTP or OTP) so that you will need both your account password and the generated passcode provided by your authenticator app. You can find out more information about these authenticator apps below:
Google Authenticator – https://google-authenticator.com
Microsoft – https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/account/authenticator
You can enable Multi-Factor Authentication within the security settings of your Google or Microsoft accounts, other online resources such as Amazon, Facebook, and Dropbox can also utilise Authenticator Apps so be on the lookout and enable MFA where possible.
UnknownGeeks provide a range of services, from hardware repair, upgrades, custom builds, and more. We can also audit all your online security to ensure that your accounts are secure and safe. For more information please contact us on 07926 102124.
