Firewalls: Seven ways to protect your wealth in an increasingly cyber world

The cyber world offers great convenience and connection, but can also bring perils and pitfalls. Enjoying the virtual world requires awareness and some key steps to remain safe.

The (accelerated) digital revolution

While the long-term trend to digitization – and the adoption of online ways to conduct many of the activities we once did in person, by mail or by phone – was already well under way, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic meaningfully accelerated the transformation.¹ Whether ordering fast food or groceries from your iPad, paying bills and checking your portfolio from your cell phone, suddenly many of the things that took us considerable time and planning could be done anywhere, anytime – and conveniently.

Even professions traditionally dependent on paper, such as law, have seen a significant acceleration in their transitions to e-signatures and e-documents, and transferring funds electronically instead of issuing cheques. And since the start of the pandemic, many businesses have discovered that employees working from home online is both effective and productive.¹

What’s more, the digital revolution shows no signs of abating. According to industry experts², consumers and businesses are planning on significantly increasing their investment in and cyber-based modes of purchasing and commerce, and adopting more ways to take advantage of the convenience and cost-savings that they offer. And the increasing prominence of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) – the interconnectivity of physical devices and systems over the Internet or other communications networks – means that the cyber world stands to become even more integrated into our lives.³

• Spending on digital transformation technologies and services worldwide is expected to rise to US$2.4 trillion in 2024 from US$0.6 in 2017.
• There will be 55.7 billion connected devices by 2025, of which 75% will be connected to the IoT.
• The use of malware increased by 358% through 2020, and ransomware usage increased by 435% compared to the previous year.
• About 45% of data breaches occur due to hack attacks, 17% involve malware, while 22% involve phishing attacks.
• The top type of digital fraud conducted in the financial services space globally was identity theft, or when a consumer uses an identity stolen from another person to commit fraud.

New opportunities, new risks

This rapidly evolving world, however, also brings with it new risks. Rarely does a week go by where the news isn’t reporting some new way that cyber criminals are exploiting or scamming consumers or attacking businesses through such cyber-specific crimes such as hacking or ransomware.

Firewalls: Build your defences to help protect you from cyber threats

Fortunately, you can both enjoy the cyber world and its many conveniences while also helping to protect yourself against cyber criminals. To do so, RBC Cyber Security experts recommend the following:

1. Use strong passwords or passphrases: Weak passwords and login credentials are the most common way cyberattacks occur – so they should be as strong as possible, and never used for multiple accounts or services. Passphrases – strings of words – are stronger than passwords and easier to remember. Password manager services can help with remembering stronger, more complicated passwords and passphrases.
2. Add additional layers of authentication: Use multi-factor authentication to unlock your device, like a PIN, fingerprint or security question(s).
3. Ensure software is always up to date: Often this is done automatically, but ensuring your software is current can help protect against the latest identified vulnerabilities.
4. Avoid clicking web links or attachments: These are two of the most prevalent ways for cyber criminals to infiltrate web users. Never click a link in an email or open an attachment unless it comes from a trusted source, and only visit trusted websites.
5. Store your data securely: Back up your important data and, if possible, delete it from any other location that is not secure.
6. Secure your social media and email accounts: These are increasingly how cyber criminals are getting to victims, so ensure you apply all the security and privacy settings available through those services.
7. Build your human firewalls: Your own human “firewall” network can be critical to your financial security, as your trusted relationships will keep their “eyes and ears open” for any activity that seems unusual or out-of-character that can alert them to cyber crime attempts. This network might include your Investment Advisor, family/spouse, banker/relationship manager, lawyer and Power of Attorney.

Counting to six: Following the six-second rule can help protect against cyber crime

Taking a few small precautionary steps to protect yourself as you engage in the cyber world can help to significantly reduce your risk of becoming a victim of cyber crime. Unfortunately, sometimes no matter what we do to prevent it, cyber criminals still sneak through our firewalls and defences.

That’s where the six-second rule comes into play: before responding to an email, text, ad or call that seems strange or unusual, out of character for the sender, oddly or poorly written, or just out of the ordinary, take six seconds to pause, review the communication, and consider whether it’s too good to be true, looks legitimate or seems threatening – chances are that it could be from a cyber criminal.

To learn more about the six-second rule and other important information and resources on cyber security, visit the RBC Cyber Security site at rbc.com/cyber-security.

¹ https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/en-eu/insights/how-covid-19-has-accelerated-digital-transformation
² https://www.elasticpath.com/blog/gartner-predicts-2021
³ https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/cybersecurity-statistics