Christopher ZeniosTo identify how to prevent hacking, it is vital to first know how hackers gain access to information and accounts.
Social Media
Hackers are professionals and use various methods to coax information on social media. As HNWIs have more exposure it is not difficult for hackers to identify the relatives or children of an HNWI coaxing them to give personal information that they may not think important. This can be especially true of children, therefore, parents must remain vigilant explaining what sensitive information is as 20% of all Facebook accounts are registered to minors.
Public Wi-fi
Public wi-fi is commonly used, many people when travelling, staying in hotels or even going to a coffee shop will log into Wi-fi. This is something that hackers also know and because of this, they target hotels that HNWIs are likely to stay in. Recent research brought to light that out of the worlds top 10 hotel chains, 8 were vulnerable. Hackers are able to install a well-designed keystroke logger on guests’ computers. Due to this threat, it is recommended to use a hotspot on your phone.
Phishing
Spear Phishing can happen to anyone, one example is of an executive, his wife’s email had been hacked, unbeknown to her, she then sent an email of a family photo to his work email. Due to this, the hacker was then able to gain access to the executive’s account. To prevent this type of situation it is recommended to separate family and business online communication, always checking the “to” and “from” lines in every email.
Vulnerable Passwords
One obvious but extremely common way people are hacked is due to vulnerable passwords. Many people simply put their DOB, first pet or school name not using any symbols or numbers. For HNWIs it is easy for hackers to get hold of information like DOB and school name making it all too easy to guess the correct password. To prevent this, change your password regularly to something not well known about you also adding symbols and numbers.
For those who want full peace of mind when it comes to hacking, the following suggestions can be implemented to provide a top-level of security.
Security Consultant
Many established firms cater specifically to the security needs of HNWIs providing risk management packages that are specially customized for each client. If you feel you require a fraud prevention strategy, then it is advisable to consult with an official firm.
Training
One of the most effective weapons against hacking is knowledge. Whether from research on the internet or official training via professional companies, gaining knowledge about how hackers gain access to information and how to prevent them will protect you and your business. Once you know what information is useful to hackers you will be well equipped to identify what information you can and cannot share also passing this information onto associates, employees and family.
2FA
Known as two-factor authentication adds an extra security layer when logging into accounts. This extra layer makes it difficult for hackers to gain access to your account as even if they gain the first password to your account they are met with another requirement for a password, in the form of a pin, safe word or fingerprint.
Password managers
As mentioned above hackers target easy passwords, however, the reason why people choose easy passwords is that having different passwords to various accounts used in day to day life can be difficult enough let alone changing the passwords often and using symbols and numbers. Due to this, many decide to use a password manager, these apps are designed to create complex passwords and store them in a safe location so that you do not have to worry about remembering every password.
