TITAN helps businesses and medical practices as well as legal and accounting firms in many ways, but mostly we’re in the security business. Our clients free up space when we dispose of old files, but most importantly, we prevent the information in them from being misused. TITAN wants all our customers to be successful and secure. Shredding files and computer memory devices is only part of the solution.
Scam Warning Signs
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a lot of helpful information you can use to educate yourself on the scams targeted at your organization and ideas about protecting yourself. There are many tactics someone can use to cause you to let your guard down and become more vulnerable:
- Misplaced trust: You won’t give money or critical information to someone you don’t trust, so criminals pretend to be trustworthy. The caller will sound like a helpful employee, or emails or fake websites may appear to belong to a familiar company or government agency.
- Bogus urgency: Criminals want quick actions so you won’t have time to look into their claims or let doubts develop. They will try to rush you into making a quick decision claiming you are facing a tight deadline.
- Intimidation and fear: The urgency they want you to feel may come from lies that something terrible is about to happen so you need to pay money now or the situation will get much worse later.
- Untraceable payment methods: A tip-off you are dealing with criminals is that payment must come through a wire transfer or gift cards. If your money can’t be traced it is that much harder to find those behind the scam.
Fraud is only limited by the imagination of the people committing it, and these a just a few of the tactics.
A Trained Employee May Be Your Best Defense
You can’t answer every phone call or read every incoming email to screen out which ones are legit and which ones just want your money. Consider this FTC guidance and:
- Encourage employees to let others know if they encounter scams. Criminals may target several people in an organization through phone calls or emails. If employees are more aware of what’s going on, they may be less likely to fall for scams.
- Inform employees never to send (or ask for) passwords or sensitive information by email. This is true even if they’re responding to an email that appears to come from a co-worker or manager.
The time and effort to train employees could provide you big dividends if it prevents monetary or information loss.
Your Computer System is Critical to Your Business and Scammers Know That
The FTC’s Small Business Computer Security Basics has these suggestions to protect your electronic Achilles’ heel:
- Your software must be up-to-date: It can be inconvenient when updates slow your work, but they often contain security improvements that address the latest threats.
- Use offline or cloud data backups: Ransomware is a significant threat to businesses. Malware in your system can encrypt your data so you can’t use it. Hackers may offer to unencrypt it for ransom. Even if you pay, they may not bother to help you. If your data is also stored outside your system and unaffected, the impact on your business will be far less.
- Stronger and longer passwords: Every application should have unique passwords that are more difficult to hack. They should also change regularly. A password manager is the most convenient way to do this. These apps can randomly generate strong passwords, store them, and insert them when needed. Password managers require their own master password you should write down and keep in a secure location in case you forget it.
- Two-factor authentication is more secure: In addition to a password, an account may require a code sent to an app on your phone or through a text message. To access your account, you would need to input this unique code or approve your attempt to access the service.
No security measure is foolproof. However, if you make hacking into your computer system or devices difficult enough, criminals may move on to more vulnerable targets and leave you alone.
Your Business is Vulnerable to Scams in Many Ways – Titan Mobile Shredding Can Be Part of the Team Keeping You Safe
TITAN will work with you to determine your needs and provide an easy, affordable method to secure your critical information. Our many testimonials speak to our focus on safety, security, and customer satisfaction. Contact us today at (215) 766-3480 or (866) 848-2699.
