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Privacy
Emma McGowan
13-09-2024


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Avast Blog Privacy Your data is under siege. How to protect your data and
privacy.


YOUR DATA IS UNDER SIEGE. HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DATA AND PRIVACY.

Emma McGowan 13 Sep 2024


Data privacy has become a hot topic and with good reason. Now’s the time to turn
over a new leaf when it comes to protecting your personal data.

I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to protecting my personal data. But
last year I nearly fell for a phone scam from someone purporting to be an IRS
agent. In my own defense, it was an impressively creative scam. It was also a
reminder that there is no limit to the ingenuity thieves will employ in their
quest to steal nuggets of personal information.  

Data privacy today is a hot issue—so hot that over 18 states rushed to enact
comprehensive privacy laws, including Texas, Florida, and Oregon. Now is a good
time to spotlight some of the common schemes bad actors will use to get their
hands on your data, and to review steps you can take to avoid them. 


A MASTERCLASS IN SOCIAL ENGINEERING—ALMOST


But back to that oh-so-clever IRS scam. The caller launched into his spiel by
sharing with me his name and IRS badge number. Meanwhile, in the background I
heard the sounds of a busy office—phones ringing, other agents answering calls
and talking to customers. The production values were Netflix-worthy; it was
largely these that kept me from hanging up. Surely no scammer would go to the
trouble of recording a workplace soundtrack! 

The agent’s acting skills weren’t too shabby either, at least initially. The
thrust of his strategy was to get me to give him my current address under the
guise of needing to confirm my identity before we could continue the call. He
already knew a lot about me, including my name and a previous address. When I
balked, he shared some story about my identity having shown up in a drug bust in
another state. Even that was vaguely plausible because I’d lost a wallet with my
ID and credit cards a year prior.  

But something didn’t add up. Why would the IRS have this information, and why
would they be sharing it with me? It was more likely that my lost wallet had
provided a windfall of useful data to criminals, and now they needed a few
missing items—such as my current address—to complete the theft of my identity.  

Finally, as I started to hang up, the actor blew it, saying I’d have law
enforcement at my door the next day if I didn’t comply. Too bad. He’d been so
close to getting my Oscar vote. 


THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU CLICK, SHARE, OR RESPOND


Not all attempts to pilfer the crumbs of your personal information are as
elaborate as my IRS call. Some phone phishing scams are as simple as a caller
saying, “This is tech support, can you confirm the last four digits of your
social security number?”  

And then there are smishing scams—phishing via SMS—where you get a
friendly-seeming text from an unknown number such as, “Hi Brenda, are you still
coming over?” If you respond, even in jest, you’ve just helped a scammer confirm
your name and/or phone number. 

Social media is a fertile playground for cybercrooks looking to relieve you of
your personal data. Who among us has not come across innocent-seeming quizzes
and surveys in our feed like this one: “Your stripper name is your first pet’s
name and the street you grew up on”?  Sure, you may get a giggle from some of
the responses (“Pancake Ascot,” anyone?), but the reality is bad actors use such
social-sharing ploys to mine data on you and your friends—data that could help
them guess passwords and/or answers to security questions. Avoid clicking on
these schemes and do not share them. 

Other common social media schemes include requests for cash, friend requests
from strangers, friend requests from existing friends (these invariably come
from a hacked account), and clickbait that takes you to a fake login page in a
ploy to capture your credentials, to name a few. 


HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DATA AND PRIVACY


Here are a few basic steps. 

 * Don’t overshare on social media. Limit what you post, especially when it
   comes to quizzes and games. And make sure the only “friends” you share your
   data with are your real-life friends. That photo of your new car could
   include your license plate number, which a criminal might find useful. And
   that scooter or e-bike route you shared could give away your street address. 
 * Use strong passwords. You’ve heard it a thousand times, and with good reason.
   Instead of recycling old, easy-to-guess passwords, opt for passwords that are
   long, random, and unique. You can use a password manager to help you remember
   them. 
 * Use multifactor authentication (MFA). It’s like double-locking your front
   door. In addition to a password, MFA requires you to enter a second
   identifier to authenticate yourself. This can be an app notification, a text
   message to your smartphone, or a biometric. If a criminal compromises your
   password (first lock), your second identifier (second lock) can help keep
   your data safe. 
 * Audit your apps and logins. Delete apps you don’t use anymore or don’t
   recognize, especially if their data-sharing practices sound offensive. If you
   want to opt out permanently—for example, if you don’t trust a company—you’ll
   also want to delete your account. And think twice before using tech giants to
   automatically log in to your apps and websites. Doing so allows them to
   harvest even more of your data.  
 * Keep software up to date. Operating systems, browsers, apps, streaming
   devices, routers—you name it. Updates often include patches to fix bugs and
   security problems. Running older versions of software exposes you to attack. 

 * Protect your device from malware. As a final backstop against malware and
   other threats that may have infiltrated your device, install malware
   protection such as Avast. 

In 2024, treat your data and privacy as the precious resources they are. 





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