Cyber Security Tips to Keep Your Family Safe Online

The digital landscape continues to grow at an exponential rate. From personal technology, like computers, mobile phones and smart watches, to the Internet of Things (IoT), such as doorbells, connected appliances and digital assistants, the innovations make our lives easier and allow us to be more productive as we go about our daily routines. These conveniences also introduce our families to greater cyber risk. This landscape continues to grow as more objects and devices connect and those connections become smarter, faster and easier. Throughout your day, you probably don’t go anywhere that you’re not part of the framework, which includes applications (apps), email, the Internet, social networks and mobile devices. Pacemakers, doorbells, insulin pumps and refrigerators are now part of this landscape, too.

The numbers are staggering: Estimates suggest 4.4 billion people are now using the Internet.¹ Equally astonishing, almost 3.5 billion are social media users, and more than 5.1 billion are using a mobile phone.¹ There’s no question the framework provides convenience and plays a growing role in our lives, but it also allows for increasing financial risks.

People have become accustomed to constant online access and may not fully understand the risks. Due to this, it has never been more important to protect your assets and identity from cyber criminals who wish to corrupt and steal. Attacks can come from anywhere. For example, a family noticed, during a routine check of a credit card statement, that someone had purchased over 100 gift cards — each worth $500 — and had given them away to people whose names they didn’t recognize. The hack occurred through a shopping app on a teenager’s smartphone when an item was purchased through a store’s Wi-Fi connection.

The family contacted Tania Neild, a cyber security consultant, to analyze and diagnose what had happened. In the process they learned some key preventative measures. A Ph.D. in database integration who spent five years at the National Security Administration (NSA), Neild says family members usually have little idea about how much their daily online activities may be putting their assets at risk. This family in particular was victimized because they weren’t following some of the basic guidelines of cyber security.

“We worked backward to find out what happened,” says Neild. “Were they on a public Wi-Fi? Yes. Were they conducting a transaction? Yes. Were they successfully processing the consequences? No.” Neild said it was helpful to have the whole family in the room so they could work on the issue together. “This was a four-generation family,” she says, noting that different family members had very different skill sets when it came to technology. “I had everyone from an infant to a great-grandfather in front of me, and although I had my work cut out for me, in the end, it was helpful to work as a team.”

A protection checklist for your devices

Make sure you consider these technologies when you're connecting to the internet

“We are just in the early innings of the Digital Age,” says Brad Deflin, founder and president of Total Digital Security. With the technology (and threats) constantly evolving, Deflin recommends five ways to protect your devices.

Antivirus software: The tool is about prevention, and only the best providers should be considered. Look for software with automatic updates and fast responses.

Intruder and rootkit protection: Assume intruders are always trying to connect to your devices and collect personal data. Sometimes they use rootkits, which are assemblies of software enabling access while masking their existence. Make sure your security professional shields your network.

Firewall: A firewall is a gatekeeper for your network. Your firewall should be configured to ensure the right information enters and exits your network.

Router: All of your online activity flows through your router. Be careful to change the default router password to a unique one in order to guard against cyber criminals gaining access to your network and private information.

Software updates: Keeping software updated is a very effective measure against hacking. Turn on the automatic updates to your software, and be sure to download the newest operating systems and applications.      

Thinking through vulnerabilities

While cyber crime increased by 38% in 2016,² this doesn’t mean families can’t use email and social networks. Roughly 96% of Americans now own a cellphone of some kind, and 84% of those adults are smartphone Internet users.³ Kids, especially, want to participate because so many of their friends are online. An independent study found 45% of teens are online “almost constantly” via smartphones and almost 95% of teens have smartphones.⁴

Neild says rules are important, but the real key is balance. “I try to move everyone to the middle,” she says. “If it gets too strict, then it’s not practical. But if it’s too loose, you open yourself up to great risk.” Neild begins with the basics:

1. Connect to websites to access sensitive information via a secure Internet connection (see “Always use a VPN (It’s easier than ever)” above for more).
2. Don’t email private information like birth dates, Social Security numbers or credit card information.
3. Avoid creating social media posts with personal information that could take a cyber criminal inside a family’s home or divulge their whereabouts on vacation. Also, respect those around you, and consider their privacy too before posting.
4. Establish passwords — the most common security breach — no one can guess (see “Smarter passwords” above for more).
5. Use two-factor authentication whenever possible, especially when using banking and online marketplace sites that involve financial transactions and information (see “Two is better than one” below for more).
6. Minimize the use of the “Forgot your password?” function when logging into sites that involve financial transactions or store sensitive personal information. These may include your bank’s website and online marketplaces used to make purchases. In the event you do need to use this function, remember to change the temporary password immediately and avoid using vulnerable email services whenever possible. Personal email services are the first places cyber criminals go to access your information, Neild says.

Sometimes stating the obvious is necessary, Neild says, such as reminding kids they should never share their passwords. Likewise, children need to understand the dangers of posting photos and personal information. “They need to recognize what is and isn’t visible and act appropriately,” she says. A large public donation, for example, could end up in local media for positive reasons, but also could lead cyber criminals to individual family members’ work or social network accounts. From there, seemingly innocent public information can be used against a family. “It could be something as benign as a post like ‘Having fun in Cabo,’” she says. “But if someone recognizes your name because your family just donated $10 million to build a library, there you are in Mexico, where kidnapping is prevalent.”

What are some of the best practices?

As the threat of cyber crime grows, so does the need to protect family assets. How is this done? Some suggest working with a webmaster to establish a family domain — a secure site accessible by a small number of approved family members, each with their own domain email (e.g., bob @familyname.com). While this is often fairly simple to set up, it can require engaging your children in discussions about cyber security, which is far easier said than done. “It’s the last thing they want to talk about,” says Brad Deflin, founder and president of Total Digital Security. “The private domain is like a fort from which the family is protected — a safe haven from the hostilities on the variety of vulnerable ‘free’ email services available.”

Though initially hearing from clients about the challenge in communicating the importance of security to their children, Deflin eventually observed that the idea of a family domain was an effective starting point to pique children’s interest and get them thinking differently about the subject. The private email approach demonstrates the importance of striving for more digital autonomy and protecting personal information.

RECOGNIZING THREATS

Over 100,000 breaches in cyber security occur every day, Neild says. And there’s more than one kind of cyber criminal. Just like in the real world, different people want different things, and have different tactics to try to get them.

Some cyber criminals are outsiders, digging up information on a family through social networks or by accessing networks illegally. Others may have insider information about the family, or even be family acquaintances or on the family’s payroll. Recognizing different kinds of cyber criminals is paramount to a family’s security, as is taking precautions.

The criminals behind these acts can be divided roughly into four categories:

Insider: Malicious or benign, an authorized user with access to a person or organization’s data or information assets.

Criminal: An individual or group who uses the Internet to commit theft, fraud or other criminal acts.

Hacktivist: A person or group who uses cyber activities to achieve political, social or personal goals.

Nation state: Government-backed actors with training, resources and offensive capabilities. 

“There is a vanity element to it as well,” he says. “When kids see their last name in the domain it somehow creates a different perspective and they’re like ‘well, that’s kind of cool.’”

In addition, Neild suggests having a trusted technology expert help set up a safe email address and implement security controls on your private network(s), like a firewall. This network should be used when handling family assets, instead of public networks or insecure Wi-Fi, and the design should include a machine accessible to authorized family members with unshared passwords. This network could include access to secure cloud-based applications, but it is how you access those applications that needs to be included in the design. While that may sound super secret and technical, the cost is low and is usually one day of work for a network engineer. The firewall should be monitored and tuned as needed. It is just as important as having security on your devices and access points.

Neild says it’s also essential to choose the right tech expert, and that the person designing the system should be evaluated the way one would a mechanic. "References, references, references," she says. "You want someone to be focused and very rigorous when setting this up."

While complexity often plays an important role, simply increasing the length of a password can also help ensure a family’s online safety, according to Deflin. “Length is everything,” he says. “Certain criminal software programs can sometimes crack an eight-character password in less than a day, while a 14-character password could take a year and a half to crack using the same software.” Though ideal, committing multiple 14-character passwords to memory is unrealistic, “so using a password manager is essential,” says Deflin.

AFTER A BREACH

Despite all the precautions you can take, cyber criminals still get around the cyber security that’s in place and breaches do occur, reiterates Neild.

This, too, is something for which every family should prepare. Victims of cyber theft, like burglary, often feel violated and don’t know what to do next. A good start is to follow the five things you should do if you think you’ve been hacked on above:

1. Disconnect your computer from the Internet.
2. Change passwords depending on the type of attack.
3. Scan your computer network and apply patches and software updates.
4. Contact a security expert.
5. File a report with the police.

Family assets may be insured, but once trust is violated, it’s not easily rebuilt. Even after a security breach during which nothing was stolen, families may feel like they’ve been robbed.

Cyber crime is a fact of modern life, and it’s only becoming worse. While the benefits of instant online access are many, so are the perils. However, with thorough preparation and a good understanding of the risks, everyone should be able to enjoy the benefits of the Internet today and look forward to a safe and secure tomorrow.