Good Financial Reads: Protect Your Identity

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Catch up on some of the latest posts with this week's roundup:

How to Deter the Most Worrisome Cyber Threats Online

Last week, I attended a cybersecurity roundtable discussion organized by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Treasury Department and the security teams of small and large corporations were all there to discuss the current state of cyber threats and how financial advisors can protect their own businesses as well as their clients from attacks and data thefts.  It was interesting to hear about all the ways in which cyber attacks can happen to normal people (not just fortune 500 companies) and so I wanted to share some of the key takeaways.  

Security is something we at North Financial take very seriously. We use encrypted cloud based software and strong, unique passwords with two factor authentication where it’s available.  I hope that you can use these tips to see how well you’re doing and adopt a few of these suggestions to improve your existing efforts. It’s especially important to pay attention as it relates to your financial accounts as well as personally identifiable information you have online....  

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After Equifax Data Breach, What's My Own Identity Protection Plan?

by Jiyao Xu, X and Y Adivsors, Inc.

Most of you may have heard about the data breach at Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus in the U.S.. It was reported that personal information from 143 million consumers has been exposed to the hackers. This incident really shocked me and made me give a second thought about my own identity protection plan. In this post, instead of giving some general guidance, I will share what I have done before and after this incident for myself and my family.

To start, let’s review some basic facts about this incident. On September 7, 2017, Equifax announced that several unauthorized accesses went into their certain files from mid-May through July 2017. It may potentially impact about 143 million consumers. Personal information has been exposed, such as names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and even driver’s license numbers in some cases....

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I Don't Know Any Of My Passwords And Neither Should You

by Gretchen Caldwell, Pure Planning

You read that right. I don’t know a single one of my passwords anymore. Like most of you I used to use a handful (read 1) of passwords for all of my online logins. I knew this was risky, but my brain wasn’t going to remember a wide variety of weird combinations for every single login. I resisted getting a password manager because it seemed like a huge pain. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I started using 1Password a year ago and it has quickly become one of my favorite tech tools.

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Protect Your Identity and Data. Financial Security Ain't All About Your Savings Rate!

by Meg Bartelt, Flow Financial Planning, LLC

ou’re probably getting lost in a swirl of holiday activity and online spending, maybe even buying an Amazon Echo or two, so let’s talk about how to protect yourself in this digital world. 

After all, awesome financial planning can’t make up for having your data ransomed, identity stolen, or privacy breached. Happy holidays!

Equifax’s data breach a couple months ago was simply the latest and greatest reminder that our data and identities are vulnerable thanks to this Internet Thing. Then there was the revelation about Uber’s data breach over a year ago. I’m sure I could list many more in the last 12 months, but I’m too lazy, it’s depressing, and that’s what Google is for.