Cybercriminals are using rapidly evolving technologies to find sophisticated new ways to commit fraud and theft. To help you protect yourself, Veris is sharing a series of posts offering simple and practical steps to help prevent hackers and cybercriminals from accessing your personal information and accounts. In this post we recommend five cybersecurity steps you can take to help secure your privacy, data, and financial assets.

1. Never send account numbers or personal information through unsecured email accounts or texts. 

If you must send an account number or sensitive personal information to someone else, make sure to use platforms that encrypt the message. A variety of providers offer email encryption services to secure your messages. Whenever possible, use a secure client portal offered by your financial institutions to transmit sensitive information. 

2. Don’t share personal details on social media. 

Social media sites and other publicly accessible websites are often exploited by scam artists and cybercriminals looking for personal information they can use to defraud you. Even if you think your profiles are private, it is hard to control the spread of information once you have shared it online. Never post personal details like birthdates (yours or your family members), addresses, or phone numbers. Talk to family members and staff about the risks of oversharing personal details online.

3. Don’t share sensitive information with AI platforms.   

A good rule of thumb is that you should not enter anything in the AI that you wouldn’t want others to know about. Experts suggest that you should never enter any of your personal, private information into an AI service. Assume that any information or data that you share with ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude or other AI platforms will become public information. 

4. Be cautious when using public Wi-Fi and unsecured networks. 

Never use public Wi-Fi or unsecured networks to transmit sensitive data or conduct financial transactions. When traveling, consider using a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN solution will encrypt your personal data and mask your IP address. 

5. Shred Sensitive Documents

Documents that contain any personal information including your social security number and date of birth or account numbers or other financial details should be shredded before going into the trash.  

How Veris is working to help protect your privacy.  

We share these tips as part of our ongoing effort to protect our clients’ privacy and the security of their financial assets. Veris has a robust data security plan in place and policies designed to help shield clients’ personal information. Our firm also works with cybersecurity experts to test the security of our network and offers regular training to our staff to make them aware of emerging cyber threats and measures they need to take to avoid security risks old and new. 

If you have any questions about these tips or other cybersecurity risks, you can send an email to info@veriswp.com and we will seek to get you the answers you are looking for. 

Learn More

Read the first Cybersecurity Tips blog from Veris Wealth Partners here. 

Sources

1.  https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-email-encryption-services

2. https://www.getcybersafe.gc.ca/en/blogs/why-you-should-never-give-your-personal-information-ai

Disclaimer

The information provided herein is provided for educational purposes only, represents only a summary of topics discussed, and reflects the opinions of the author. You are strongly urged to independently evaluate what is most appropriate for you under the circumstances as this content is impersonal in nature.