Are You Doing All You Can To Protect Yourself Online?

22 February 2023

We spend so much time online each and every day, chatting with friends on social media, shopping for the best deals, banking or paying for various products and services. But how many of us really think about the fact that these everyday activities can leave us exposed to online criminals?

In this blog, we take a look at some interesting findings from a recent survey from Google/YouGov on Irish people’s online habits. With all of this in mind, we’ve put together some things to look out for that might help avoid cyber crooks.

Cyber Protection | Personal Cyber Insurance | An Post Insurance

Survey findings

Joe.ie recently reported on a new survey conducted by Google/YouGov. According to the survey, three quarters of Irish users have experienced some sort of online scam or security breach.
The survey also found the following:
54% of people surveyed have been the target of ‘phishing’ scams.
23% have been victims of viruses or malware which has stolen personal data.
17% have had their social media accounts hacked.
15% have parted with money for goods or services that did not exist.
50% use two-step verification for ‘some but not all’ of their online accounts.
33% of people have never used an online tool such as Google Security Checkup to review their online security settings.
39% of Irish people stated they follow the recommended practice of using different passwords for each of their online accounts.
4.5% admitting the riskier approach of using one password for all services.

RTE.ie tells us that according to a survey by CyberSafeKids 50% of children feel they spend too much time online and almost a quarter have seen content on the internet they would not want their parents to know about. So as you can see, safety is key.

Passwords

Choose strong passwords that include a mixture of letters, upper and lower case, numbers and symbols and use multi-factor authentication.
Make sure you have different passwords for all of your online services and never share or write down your passwords.
Use a password manager to store all your passwords securely and don’t forget to change your passwords regularly.

Social media

Make sure you apply suitable privacy settings on social media to ensure the right people are viewing your information. These settings can change so you should be checking them regularly.
Delete any old apps you are not using, even though you may not be actively using them, they may still be gathering personal data in the background.
Don’t overshare personal details on social media that scammers can use to target you.

Email, SMS and voicemail

Ask yourself, was I expecting this message? Do I know the person that sent it and is it their real address or number?
Look out for any wrong spellings — cyber criminals often use contact details that look like they are coming from people you know and trust.
Don’t click on any links or feel pressure to take any action as a result of a sense of urgency in the message received.

Your devices

Keep your device software current. Software updates often include updates to security so turning on automatic updates will help keep you up-to-date at all times.
Only connect to known and trusted Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections. Set your device to prompt you before connecting to new networks.
Don't leave your mobile devices lying around. Activate a “find my device” service which allows you to locate and wipe your device of any data if it is ever lost.

Personal Cyber Insurance

With scammers getting more and more inventive in their ways, even the above measures may not be enough to keep you and your family safe online. That’s where An Post Insurance comes in!

We’ve recently introduced Personal Cyber Insurance, which gives you extra protection online by providing you with reimbursement in the event your electronic device(s) suffer damage from a cyber-attack, or you experience incidents of cyber fraud or cyber bullying.

Our cyber team will use their expertise to repair, reinstate, and recover your data as quickly as possible. We may also be able to provide a replacement device.

You will also have access to your very own personalised cyber dashboard, operated by Dynarisk which will help you stay safe online with 24/7 monitoring of your email addresses and devices and will let you know if your data has been leaked and provide solutions on how to protect yourself.

You can choose between individual cover or family cover — whatever suits you best. Cover is subject to limits depending on the policy chosen. See below video for more information.

Source: Tech Guard

An Post Insurance Personal Cyber Insurance is arranged, administered and underwritten by Chubb European Group SE.

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