Category: Guidance

October 5, 2016

Safe Online Banking

Online banking is becoming very popular as people have less time to visit their banks to carry out transactions and we’re becoming very used to doing more and more business on our mobile devices (and PCs).

Logging in on a Desktop or Laptop Computer

You should always access the bank website from your browser favourites or type in the Internet address – never respond to emails claiming to be from your bank asking you to click to login or to provide them with security information. These are always scams as your bank will never ask for such information in an email.

You need to have anti-virus installed on your computer and to keep it up to date. This will prevent the worst viruses getting into your computer but no software is infallible and you need to exercise caution as well – e.g. do not open attachments in email unless you know the person who sent it to you. Two popular packages are from McAfee and Norton. There is also anti malware software available that can protect against a wider range of threats to your security.

The login pages of bank websites use secure access (https) so a locked padlock or key symbol should appear in your browser window when accessing your bank site.

Using a Mobile Device

You can use the browser on your mobile device to access your bank’s website but it’s better to download and use the bank’s APP (make sure you download the official one). Keep the APP and the device up to date with all security updates.

Wi-Fi

You should ensure that your Wi-Fi at home uses a password rather than allowing open access.

There are numerous places such as restaurants, shopping centres, trains and buses that offer free Wi-Fi. Again you should only use this if it requires a password to login and you should avoid any financial transactions on public Wi-Fi

Scammers have been known to setup free Wi-Fi in town centres and use it to collect passwords and personal; information from users.

Banks

The banks use various methods to ensure the safety of your information and you should use these wherever possible.

Barclays has PINsentry which is a device that generates unique 8 digit code you use whenever you want to access your account. This is much stronger security than just a password. Natwest recommends use of IBM Raport security software for better protection against online intrusion. Lloyds use an anti-fraud process called Enhanced Internet Authentication (EIA) to help keep you safer online. Santander recommend downloading Trusteer Rapport which is free and has won awards for keeping customers’ details secure.

Check your bank statements regularly and contact your bank immediately if you spot any transactions that you didn’t authorise.

All of the banks put a lot of effort into trying to keep you safe with their online baking so follow their guidance.

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September 8, 2016

One Third of People Fail on Basic Security . Do You?

Millions of people in the UK are failing to take basic steps such as redirecting their mail deliveries, or updating their computer software to protect their identities from criminals, a new survey shows.

One in four UK adults – 12.275 million people – is believed to have fallen victim to identity crime losing on average £1200 each, with total losses to the UK adult population estimated to be £3.3 billion.

Simon Dukes, Chief Executive of Cifas said: “Every day across the UK, people are leaving themselves vulnerable to fraud by failing to take simple steps to protect their identities. The good news is that there is so much more we could all do to make a fraudster’s job more difficult. We know that people lead increasingly demanding and busy lives, with many people reporting password fatigue or struggling to find the time to update their software securely and regularly. We need to change the way we think about our identities and prioritise protecting them.

Some simple steps to protect your identity

Personal Information

Only give your personal information to a caller or online if you are sure of who you’re dealing with and why they need the information.

Don’t throw documents with your personal details on into the bin – shred them.

2. Passwords

Make sure your passwords cannot be guessed. Include capital letters, numbers and punctuation marks in the password.

Use multiple passwords. Have more than one password for online accounts so that if it’s cracked – thieves will not be able to gain access to all of your accounts.

3. Social Media

Exclude important personal information from your social media profiles

Details like your phone number, address, children’s age or school can all present ways for hackers to glean more knowledge. On Facebook, that means culling any ‘friends’ you don’t know, minimising the details in your ‘About Me’ section and being selective about hitting the ‘like’ button, all of which will make you harder to find – particularly when Facebook’s new search tool, Graph Search, is rolled out in the UK.

Check your social media privacy settings

Change all Facebook settings to “Friends Only” for all posts for a more secure profile. Facebook often makes changes to these settings and, when it does so, can even reset your secure settings.

4. Phone

Check your phone’s privacy settings. Turning your GPS location settings to “off” can keep your family’s whereabouts private.

5. Phishing

Watch out for ‘phishing’ emails

Spam email is getting more and more sophisticated. Never respond to any emails with account info or passwords. Banks will never ever ask for your information in this way. If in doubt, call the bank directly to check or, better still, delete the email.

6. Secure Payment

Check for the https://

Before entering payment details into any website, check the web address has an ‘s’ ( which stands for secure) after the http. If it doesn’t, don’t use it

7. WI-FI

Keep your communications networks secure. Password protect your Wi-Fi so hackers in the local area can’t use your connection to carry out malicious activity.9.

8. Bank Statements and Credit Card Statements

Keep a close eye on your bank statements and if possible cross check each item on the statement

Also check your credit card bills in case small payments exist that you didn’t authorise

STAY SAFE

[source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/10509121/10-ways-to-protect-your-online-identity.html]

August 19, 2016

Google Safe Search

Google Safe Search is a feature in the Google Chrome browser designed to keep adult Internet content out of search results for children. It also provides some protection against malicious websites. Google maintain a list of websites that have been hacked and hence are dangerous to visit and warns you if you try to go to one.

To activate Safe Search:-

First of all, login to Google if you have a Gmail or other Google account.
Go to page https://www.google.com/preferences
Tick the box to turn on Safesearch
If you want to lock the PC so no-one else can change those settings or bypass Safesearch then click on Lock SafeSearch

If you have more than one browser available on the computer then you’ll need to repeat this process for each browser.

Then you’re protected by Google Safesearch.

August 18, 2016

The Danger of Online Pharmacies

Self-diagnosing
Medical professionals receive extensive training and understand the effects of drugs in single use or in combinations.

It is dangerous for anyone to self-diagnose, look up drugs on the Internet then buy from unregulated online Pharmacies. DO NOT put your health at risk in this manner.

The Pharmacies that sell prescription drugs without a prescription are acting illegally.
Online Pharmacies
If you have a valid prescription, it may be tempting to save money by buying from an online pharmacy, but medicines should not be seen as regular consumer products and fake medicines can cause real harm to your health.

It can be difficult to distinguish between registered online pharmacies and other commercial websites. The General Pharmaceutical Council operates an internet pharmacy logo scheme to identify legitimate online pharmacies so that you can be sure you are purchasing safe and genuine medicines online.

Check for the internet pharmacy logo when buying medicine online.

You can also check the registration status of the pharmacist by looking for the name and address of the pharmacy operating the website, as it should be connected to a “bricks and mortar” pharmacy.

Medicine sold from disreputable websites can be poor quality at best and dangerous at worst. What you receive in the post could be counterfeit, substandard or unapproved new drugs, which can put your safety at risk.

And never reply to spam emails offering cheap drugs. These are mostly scams.

Drugs from an unregistered website could also be dangerous to your health because they may be out-of-date, diluted or fake.

Always get your medicine from a pharmacy or a reputable outlet.

Refer to the NHS Choices website for further information

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/pharmacists/Pages/internet-drugs.aspx

August 17, 2016

The Official Crime Survey 2015

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW),is considered to be the best measure of crime trends in the UK. It is created by interviewing sample members of the public about their experiences regarding crime in the past 12 months.

As of 2015, this includes fraud and computer misuse, listed below.

Bank and credit fraud – 2.47 million incidents
Non investment fraud – 1.0 million
Advance fee fraud – 108 thousand
Other fraud – 138 thousand
Computer virus – 1.36 million
Unauthorised access to personal information – 649 thousand

That makes a total of 5.76 million incidents

Analysis of the Crime Survey shows the following:-

Almost two-thirds of fraud incidents involved initial loss of money or goods to the victim (62%). This equates to an estimated 2.3 million offences, compared with 1.4 million incidents of fraud involving no loss of money or goods.
Victims received a full reimbursement in 43% of fraud incidents (1.6 million), typically from their financial provider.
In 49% of non-investment frauds (such as fraud related to online shopping scams or fraudulent computer service calls) and 76% of all other frauds (for example, lottery scams, pyramid or Ponzi schemes or charity fraud) there was no financial loss to the victim. This compares to 30% of incidents of bank and credit account fraud where no financial loss was suffered.
For computer misuse, 22% of incidents involved loss of money or goods, all relating to computer viruses (442,000 incidents)^.

For further information, go to

http://fightbackonline.org/index.php/guidance/12-explanations/29-the-official-crime-survey-2015

August 12, 2016

Roger Annies and the Royal Mail Opt Out

Roger Annies was a good neighbourhood postman in South Wales.

The Royal Mail have an opt out service for people who don’t want unaddressed mail from their postman.

(for how to register – go to https://fightback.ninja/test/royal-mail-opt-out-of-junk-mail-deliveries/).

Royal Mail don’t advertise this service as they make a great deal of money from delivering Marketing mail..

Roger Annies was asked by his customers how to stop the junk mail and he created his own leaflet and distributed it to his customers. Mr Annies was disciplined after Royal Mail bosses discovered he had delivered his own leaflet to houses on his south Wales round highlighting the little-known opt-out clause which can stop unwanted mailshots.

He was suspended on full pay but the subsequent publicity led tens of thousands of people to join the direct mail rebellion. After a national outcry over this, he was reinstated, but was told he would not get his old round back and was relegated to a sorting office job.

The Direct Marketing Association said 200,000 extra people had signed up to the Mailing Preference Service, which removes people’s details from companies’ mailing lists, in the month after Mr Annies delivered his leaflet.

Royal Mail said it did not have specific figures but its switchboard had been jammed with callers wanting to find out how to stop so-called “door to door” items.

Mr Annies drafted his leaflet after being inundated with complaints about junk mail. The note read: “You may have noticed your postman now has to deliver anonymous advertising material called door to door items. This means a lot more unwanted post in your letterbox. “You might be interested in reducing your unwanted mail and reduce paper usage in order to help save the environment. If you complete the slip below and send it to the Royal Mail delivery office you will no longer receive door to door advertising items.”

Bad Royal Mail.

[source: www.guardian.com]