October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Stay safe online with these tips.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a time to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to provide tips on how to stay safe online. As a community bank, we are committed to protecting our customers’ financial information and we want to help you stay safe online as well.
Here are some tips to help you stay safe online:
- Use strong passwords and a password manager. A strong password is at least 12 characters long and includes a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. It is important to have a different password for each of your online accounts. A password manager can help you keep track of all your passwords.
- Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA). MFA adds an extra layer of security to your online accounts by requiring you to enter a code from your phone in addition to your password. MFA is available for most online accounts, including social media, email, and banking accounts. Since many of us use our email account to communicate with our friends, families, business partners and merchants, it’s especially important to use some type of strong authentication to logon to your email account. MFA is one type of strong authentication that is difficult for attackers to compromise. ONE AMERICAN BANK will be activating MFA for your account over the next few months. The process to activate it is very easy and makes compromising your account much more difficult for thieves.
- Recognize and report phishing. Phishing emails are designed to look like they are from a legitimate company, such as your bank or credit card company. These emails often try to trick you into clicking on a malicious link or opening an attachment. A large percentage of these phishing attacks are for the purpose of compromising the username and password of your email, or other accounts such as your bank account. If you receive an email from a company you do business with but it looks suspicious, do not click on any links or open any attachments. Instead, contact the company directly to verify the email’s authenticity. If it looks suspicious, it may be because their account was compromised!
- Update your software. Software updates often include security patches that can help protect your devices from malware and other threats. It is important to update your software as soon as updates are available.
In addition to these tips, there are a few other things you can do to stay safe online:
- Be careful about what information you share online. Do not share your personal or financial information on social media or other public websites.
- Be careful about what links you click on and what attachments you open. Only click on links from trusted sources and never open attachments from unknown senders.
- Use a VPN when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept your data.
By following these tips, you can help protect yourself and your loved ones from cyber threats.
Here are some additional tips for ONE AMERICAN BANK Customers:
- Be aware of scams that target community bank customers. Scammers may try to contact you by phone, email, or text message. They may pretend to be from your bank or another trusted organization. They may try to trick you into revealing your personal or financial information or into sending them money. ONE AMERICAN BANK will never ask you for your online banking password or MFA token. If you are at all suspicious, call us at 605-361-1010 to ensure you’re communicating with a legitimate source.
- Never give out your personal or financial information to someone you do not know and trust. This includes your Social Security number, account numbers, and PINs.
- If you are unsure about the legitimacy of a communication from your bank, contact the bank directly using a known phone number or email address.
- Be careful about clicking on links in emails or text messages from your bank. If you are unsure about a link, hover over it with your mouse to see the actual URL. If the URL does not match the bank’s website, or a known bank partner, do not click on it.
- Be careful about opening attachments in emails from your bank. Only open attachments from trusted senders. If you are unsure about an attachment, contact the bank directly.
- Do not send sensitive information in email. Use a secure method of communication provided by your bank if you need to send sensitive personal information such as your Social Security Number, Account Number, or other information that an attacker could use to compromise your identity.
By following these tips, you can help protect your money and your financial information.