Computer security today looks a lot different than it did ten years ago and certainly different than 50 years ago, chiefly because of the internet and the accessibility of computing devices. Computing devices get more powerful each year, and the internet has helped expand the amount of information exchanged and stored in the cloud rather than on hard drives.
Computer viruses, while still a nuisance, have given way to phishing as the number one threat for computer users. Phishing scams have become weaponized to take advantage of the ease of transmitting email and text messages. Back in 2019, email security firm Valimail, reported approximately 3 billion phishing emails were sent per day. The number of phishing emails and smishing attacks continues to grow as handheld devices, and smartphones proliferate. All this portends an interesting crossroad of limitations of physical firewalls and security software already available and an ever-increasing reliance on the human firewall.
Security awareness needs to be practiced on a business and personal level. Look before you leap!
- Verify the authenticity of the sender. If the message comes from someone you know, call them rather than replying to the email or text sent.
- Don’t click links in an unsolicited email, this is particularly important on your phone, where it may be challenging to inspect the links.
- If you are initiating a request, slow down responding to urgent messages requesting sensitive information such as user name, password, date of birth, SSN, bank account number, etc.
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