We are starting to see a sharp increase in successful phishing attacks and are therefore recommending that our customers start increasing their levels of online security.

A phishing attack is defined as:

the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Whilst additional security is less convenience, believe me cleaning up a case of stolen identity is a whole lot more inconvenient (and expensive)!

Our general recommendations are as follows:

1. Use strong passwords
   1. uppercase letters
   2. lowercase letters
   3. and numerals
2. Never re-use passwords, especially not for any of these:
   1. bank login
   2. email
   3. password manager (see below)
3. Use a password manager (to help deal with (1) and (2)
   1. It is especially vital to NOT EVER use the same password for your password manager
   2. We prefer LastPass but 1Password is also a good option
4. Setup multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all cloud services (Office365, G Suite, Dropbox etc).  This is also known as two-factor authentication (2FA) or two-step verification (2SV)
5. Use decent (not free) security software on your computer (yes, even for your Mac!).  We recommend and supply Bitdefender Security.

If you would like assistance with upgrading your online Cybersecurity please don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing support@dt.net. or calling us on 07 3369 3777.

Safe surfing,

Simon