Monthly talk: Steve Shepherd – Cyber Crime

Steve Shepherd the Cyber Crime Protect Officer for Devon and Cornwall Police spoke to a very well-attended meeting, an indication of how significant this topic is for us all.

Steve gave members some key ‘take home’ messages:

Always be curious!

• Nothing is free
• Never click on links/attachments if you are unsure of the sender
• Even if it looks authentic – check grammar and spelling to see if there is anything which is not quite right
• Note the salutation. “Dear Customer” from your bank/provider/HMRC will be a scam as they will always use your proper title and name
• Ask yourself whether the sender purporting to be genuine would have your email address?
• Let your cursor hover over the sender’s email address (it may not match the address shown on screen)

Passwords

• Make it as hard as you can make it. How easy are yours to crack? Date of birth, the same password each time with slight changes; these are all too easy for a hacker.
• Never use the same password.
• A seven letter password will take one second to crack but a password with 12 or more characters takes 200 years to crack.
• TIP: Use three random words ie: looking around the room windowwallchair add a number/?/! in the password.
• If you prefer, keep an old-fashioned book to write down your passwords.
• Turn on two step verification – most banks have introduced this already for online banking.

Keep it safe

• Back up your important information.
• Always keep your devices updated.

If you think you may have been compromised, don’t hesitate, contact your bank immediately.

If you do have concerns, here are some useful addresses:

• actionfraud.police.uk
• if you do not have access to the internet, you can contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
• report@phishing.gov.uk
• If you receive a text you are unsure of, you can forward it to 7726

Finally, by reporting fraud and cybercrime, you will enable law enforcement to understand how these criminals operate and help catch them.

Kate McCarthy