Cyber Security Awareness Month-Week 5
Fortis: Fighting Email Impersonators one message at a time
Fortis values its client relationships and client information. We know that you entrust us with many types of personal information and we don’t take that trust lightly. Fortis has many ways in which we secure that data through Cyber Security, Office Security, and Employee Security.
What do we consider personal or confidential information?
Personal information is anything that identifies an individual or assists in identifying an individual such as their social security number, date of birth, address, or mother’s maiden name. Confidential information includes an individual’s bank account information, account login information, driver’s license, passports, credit cards, etc.
Did you know that some of our clients have been victimized by email hacks?
There have been a few instances in which a Fortis employee received an email from someone purporting to be a “client” requesting a payment or transfer. In each instance one of our employees suspected that the email was suspicious. He/She contacted the client in a manner other than email in order to verify their information. Some hackers will access your email account and review your emails to see what type of correspondence you have and with whom. They then impersonate you and request money be transferred or a phony bill be paid. In some instances they will take information from a legitimate email and ask you to transfer the funds to a different institution. Financial hacks are occurring more and more each year.
How does Fortis protect you when we receive a monetary email request?
As mentioned above, suspicious, large sum, or unusual monetary requests are verified by a method other than the originating written request. The alternate method may be via fax, a phone call, or a method deemed secure/private by the client.
How can you protect your email account?
The best way to protect your email account is to use a long, secure password that is not affiliated with you, your family, or your address. The password should be a combination of capital letters, lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Using this method we can transform a simple phrase such as ‘Puppies are cute’ into the secure password ‘Puppi3$ar3Cut3.’ Passwords should be changed on a regular basis and a password for secure sites such as financial institutions, should never be used as a password for another site.
Do you suspect that you have been a victim of cyber-crime?
We encourage our clients to contact us as soon as possible if you believe you may be a cyber-crime victim.
Fortis Wealth, LP * 1045 1st Avenue, Ste 120, King of Prussia, PA 19406 * 610-313-0910