Protect yourself against cyber attacks

Canada Life - Apr 15, 2022

As your advisor, I’m committed to helping you protect your private information

Man sitting at a table in an internet cafe on his personal laptop using the internet on public a wifi network.

The crisis in Ukraine raises global concerns over cyber security, as risk of malicious activity like phishing is increased.

What you can do to protect yourself

As your advisor, I’m committed to helping you protect your private information. Here are some helpful tips for you to consider:

  1. Make sure you have current anti-virus software installed on your computer.
  2. Keep your computer up to date, including updates to your operating system, browser and productivity software.
  3. Put multi-factor access (a strong password along with a one-time secret code sent to your mobile device) on all your online accounts – most importantly on your email and cloud storage accounts.
  4. Talk to your family about being vigilant about malicious emails that might contain viruses. 
  5. Ask your email provider about what filtering they can do to stop phishing attacks.
  6. Above all, trust your instincts. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t click. It never hurts to call a business to verify information in an email.
     

Phishing email dos and don’ts 

Every day, dozens of malicious emails from cyber criminals pop up in inboxes just like yours. They’re constantly and cleverly probing to gain confidential information and unauthorized access. All they need is your reply.

You don’t need sophisticated techniques to defend yourself against falling victim to these cyber scams, sometimes referred to as Phishing emails.

Whenever you receive any email:

Do Don't

• Take your time
• Ask yourself lots of questions about the request and who sent it
• Verify that a request deserves your trust before you interact with it
• If your email system allows, report the email as suspicious. 

• Rush to respond
• Select any link, button or attachment in a suspicious email
• Believe you couldn’t be a target for a malicious email


Following these do’s and don’ts, whenever an email appears in any of your inboxes, is your best defense against becoming a victim of a phishing email scam, the consequences of which are far-reaching and long-lasting.

More resources

Through Get Cyber Safe, the Government of Canada has more resources on how to stay safe online.

If you have any concerns about the safety of your financial information, contact me so we can talk about how I protect your privacy.