Introduction
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that in the current day & age, cybersecurity has become a growing concern for every person out there. Hacking attacks have become very common these days with massive trillion-dollar MNCs (Multi-National Corporations) getting hacked and thereby leaking user data out in the wild. Such confidential & private user data can easily be misused and taken advantage of – if not cared for properly.
But, the good news is that – there are several ways that users can fight back against the increasing rate of digital theft – especially when it comes to financial investments. So, what are the solutions? Let’s find out.
Procedures To Safeguard Financial Investments For Cyber Theft
- Do Your Research
Just like you’ve to perform research as to how to play poker for the first time, the primary step in protecting your financial investments is to choose the correct providers that you want to entrust with your finances. Cyber thieves always change their tactics which is why companies need to adjust & adapt their business procedures so that they can stay safe.
Thus, you need to set up your financial investments with companies who are taking proactive steps in properly maintaining the safety of their clients. Such companies should have a strong reputation in the financial investment market and if possible you can also gather recommendations from your peers.
- Know Your Risks
As a financial investor, you need to learn the source of your risks. It’s always worth your time to identify the risks that are currently present in your financial accounts. For instance, you can look for the following primary risks:
Account takeovers.
- Data breaches.
- Identity theft.
Since each of the above-mentioned concerns threatens different segments of the financial sector, you need to know which of the above-mentioned risks are present in your current system.
For instance, if your current financial provider recently had a data breach, then it’s better to look at the necessary steps the provider has taken to combat the data breach. Furthermore, the provider should also invest in additional security protocols to mitigate such a problem from happening in the future. If none of the aforementioned corrective steps is being taken by your financial provider, then it’s better to move your investments to a better provider before it becomes too late.
- Safeguard Against Identity Theft
Your identity is the main gateway to your finances. And since cybercriminals can utilise multiple methods to raid a user account, identity theft is one of the procedures that they can use to have a real shot at capturing your worthy investments. Hence, the best way you can protect your financial investments is to safeguard your real identity.
Current reports suggest that the rate of identity thefts have increased 311 per cent between the year 2019 and 2020. And the pandemic acted as a catalyst for the same.
The primary reason why the rate of identity thefts has increased during the pandemic is that people who are working from home are now not working within the safe corporate & professional environments anymore. As a result, the risks of cybersecurity have increased.
- Taking Care Of The Fundamentals
Taking care of the basics is just as important as performing the higher-level activities for protecting your investments. Hence, if you want to safeguard your 3Patti winnings and other financial investments, you need to first protect your passwords, PINs and usernames. There are various ways that you can perform the aforementioned procedures, for instance when setting up passwords make sure you use at least 8 characters that have upper case & lower cases alphabets, numbers and special characters.
Moreover, when setting up PINs, make sure that you don’t use the same PIN as your house number, mobile phone or birth date. Additionally, you also need to alter your PINs/passwords every 180 days to keep hackers at bay. Furthermore, you also need to use 2FA or Two-Factor Authentication services. Besides, never use the same password on multiple accounts.
It’s also suggested that you use a password manager to keep your passwords safe in one place.
- Protect Your Internet Devices & Networks
Apart from your passwords & PINs, you also need to safeguard your physical hardware. There are multiple ways you can do the same, for instance:
Setting up firewalls on your computers.
- Using a trusted VPN (Virtual Private Network) service.
- Keep your computer/mobile/app software up-to-date to prevent any zero-day exploits.
Conclusion
In this digital age, the key to staying safe is to not become over-confident in your online safety. The world of cybersecurity is ever-changing and every day new threats are popping up like there’s no tomorrow. Thus, you need to maintain a proper sense of awareness when you proactively decide to safeguard your financial investments. The idea is to never rest on your laurels and always be dynamic in your approach.