Man-in-the-Middle
Scam 5 Due to the COVID-19 crisis, you are now working from home and decide to respond to pressing client matters using your personal email in order to save time. Since your personal email is not encrypted, a hacker is able to access your emails and becomes privy to sensitive and confidential information. The hacker is then able to use this information to perpetrate identity theft against your clients. As a result, you are faced with a potential third party liability claim. Not only that, but your insurance company will not pay your claim as you were not using your company’s secure network while working.
Tip Only use secure corporate protected networks when working from home. Avoid using personal emails as they are outside your information technology department’s control, without the same stringent security protocols. Companies will customarily use VPNs, Two Factor Authentication (2FA) and/or Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) alongside additional security in order to access their networks securely. Personal emails may not only expose you to “man-in-the-middle” scammers, but could unknowingly expose sensitive information in your emails that may
be readily accessible to untrustworthy individuals (“bad actors”) and/or scammers. You may also be violating company policy by using your personal email and find yourself without insurance should a claim arise. Finally, in all circumstances, ensure that your user name and password(s) are not easy to figure out by a hacker. Update your passwords regularly and use passwords and user names that consist of a complex combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Avoid using common names and numbers (e.g., your name, birthday, 123, etc.).
5 • How to protect yourself from COVID-19 technology scams
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online