Protect Your Business From Cyber Fraud

Taking your business online can have its benefits but need proper security in place to prevent potential virus attacks. As technology grows so do cyber threats to your businesses’ financial systems. 

According to Stuart Carson the Senior Portfolio Manager at RBC Dominion Securities, “77 percent of Canadians believe they are knowledgeable on cyber security, only 16 percent could identify the majority of cyber terms correctly.” 

Today, cyber security has become a necessity for businesses as their financial systems can easily come under siege by cyber attacks. The consequences of a successful attack can be dramatic and have devastating effects on your business. 

With the holiday season now in sight, businesses and consumers have begun to prepare for the annual shopping and gift giving frenzy. Prices are seeing a much-needed plunge, but this is also the time of year where cybersecurity drops. 

During the holidays, opportunistic cyber criminals use this time to step up their holiday scams. This holiday season watch out for the following cyber crimes: 

1. Malicious Links

 Scammers run fake ads showing valuable and hard-to-get items at incredible prices. To encourage shoppers to click, they often use urgent phrasing, promising attractive discounts only while supplies last, or for a limited time only.

You can protect yourself by: 

If a sale site seems sketchy, check for inconsistencies in spelling and language. Confirm that the website includes comprehensive policies on shipping, returns, customer support, and privacy. See a deal too good to be true? Pull up the official website of the brand and check if the same sale prices are reflected on their product pages.

1. Fake Discounts

Some scammers go beyond hosting fake ads with bad links, they also build fraudulent applications that claim to search for and consolidate discount codes and coupons from popular brand names. These fake apps lure users to download malware onto their devices, stealing payment information, or credentials to social media or online banking accounts.

How to protect yourself:

Shoppers should look up the details of the app’s developer. How easy is it to find out the developer’s identity? If it’s not obvious who they are and where they trade from, don’t shop from the site.

1. Email Scams

Scammers create spoofs of legitimate holiday emails from established brands and lure in their target with bargain prices. Clicking the links leads shoppers to malicious websites primed to drop malware or phish for login credentials.

How to protect yourself:

When reading emails, inspect link addresses before clicking on them. Scammers often use URLs that look similar to real ones, replacing letters and spacing with numbers and punctuation or using odd domains.

1. Fake Offers

Scammers in these schemes impersonate HR representatives and recruiters of real companies and post help-wanted ads via email or on social media platforms. Usually, these open roles will include forms for the hopeful applicant to fill out and ask for intimate details such as address, tax details, social security number, work permit information, and other personally identifiable information (PII). 

How to protect yourself:

Holiday job seekers should research the company, review their website and associated channels. 

“Cybercriminals are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to trick people into giving up personal or private information," says Adam Evans, vice president of cyber operations and chief information security officer at RBC in Toronto. 

With good strategies in place you can protect your businesses’ financial systems thus protecting your business data from theft and damage. 

Tips you can use to prevent cyber attacks, which affect the majority of companies today. 

1. Periodically update all financial systems 

Update all your systems and software to the latest versions whenever available. Old software versions provide criminals  with easy access to your business records, files, and financial information.

1. Protect your network

Protect your business’s networks and data from cyber criminals who will use your company information or resources for personal gain. 

• Block your business’s wi-fi name from public view.
• Encrypt your wireless network and all stored business information.
• Ensure your website uses protected platforms to host all of your business web pages.

1. Implement privileged access

 Strategically assign employees the correct level of access depending on their role and responsibilities in the company. Mitigate the risk of suffering extensive damage from a cyber attack irrespective of whether it is from an external person or due to internal errors. 

1. Educate employees

A successful security awareness program, helps employees understand the security risks associated with their actions and on how to identify cyberattacks they may encounter.Take steps to educate your employees on what's expected of them and required to comply to avoid cyber crime. Also, safeguard employees' access by requiring all employees to use complex passwords that are changed regularly. 

To run your business successfully it is  essential to have well-functioning financial systems and ensure overall good cyber hygiene in the company.