Everyday Objects Lead To Identity Theft
An innocent looking child’s toy caused a data breach. An identity thief trolling the neighborhood at night finds your trash can outside to be a treasure trove. Many people overlook how everyday objects lead to identity theft, instead focusing solely on their computers and cloud accounts. Although it remains vital to create strong passwords and use antivirus on your PC, you should also stay vigilant of other ways that hackers and thieves can access your personal data.
Criminals often use six common things to steal your information.
Old Smart Phones
Every two and a half years, people replace their smartphones, resulting in a significant number of old phones containing personal data. The amount of information stored on mobile phones is immense, including synced connections with cloud services, banking apps, business apps, personal health apps, and a plethora of photos and videos.
Due to advancements in chip technology, smartphones can store documents and spreadsheets with ease. However, old smartphones, which are often found at charity shops or in the trash, pose a significant risk of data theft for cybercriminals.
It is imperative to properly clean and erase all data from old phones and dispose of them appropriately, rather than simply discarding them as regular garbage.
Wireless Printers
Nowadays, wireless connectivity comes standard on most printers, making them an integral part of home or work networks. While wireless printing from any location within range is convenient, connecting a printer to the internet poses a risk to your data security.
Printers often store sensitive documents, including tax paperwork and contracts, and frequently get overlooked when implementing data security measures, leaving them vulnerable to hackers. In such situations, hackers gain access to printer data and even exploit printer network connections to infiltrate other devices connected to the same network.
To safeguard printers, you must keep their firmware updated regularly, ensuring that updates are installed as soon as they become available. Additionally, turning off the printer when not in use can prevent hackers from accessing it, rendering it inaccessible to them.
USB Sticks
Have you ever run across a USB stick laying around? Perhaps you thought you scored a free removable storage device. Or you try to live as a good Samaritan and want to return it to the rightful owner. Either way, you need to see what’s on the USB stick first.
Never plug a USB device of unknown origin into your computer. Baiting people with these USB drives represents an old trick in the hacker’s book. They plant malware on these sticks and then leave them around office doors or parking lots as bait. As soon as you plug it into your device, whatever is on the USB drive can infect it.
Old Hard Drives
When disposing of an old computer or removable drive, you must ensure that it is thoroughly cleaned. Simply deleting files doesn’t work as personal data can still be stored in system and program files on computer hard drives. Additionally, if a user remains logged into a browser, their personal data, such as passwords, credit card information, and browsing history, remains at risk of theft.
To guarantee safe disposal, donation, or reuse of old computer drives, seek assistance from an IT professional to erase the drive is highly recommended. This process ensures that all personal data is removed completely.
Trash Can
Identity theft criminals are not limited to online platforms; they also troll neighborhoods on trash day. Your trashed documents are worth money to the wrong people. Therefore, remain cautious of the items you discard in your trash.
Garbage often provides thieves with ample information to commit identity theft. For instance, pre-approved credit card offers that many individuals regard as “junk mail,” voided checks, old bank statements, and insurance paperwork often contain the information needed by fraudsters to pose as you and commit fraud.
In such situations, a shredder offers an excellent ally. Shred all documents containing personal information before disposing of them. This extra step helps protect you from the potential losses associated with identity theft.
Children’s Internet of Things Devices
Hackers often target toys such as electronic bears, smart kid watches, and Wi-Fi-connected Barbies. For example, investigators discovered that Mattel’s Hello Barbie enables personal information theft. Hackers could even use its microphone to eavesdrop on families.
Although these futuristic toys remain in high demand by children, parents often overlook their data security. However, because they are toys meant for children, they offer much less security, making them more vulnerable to cybercriminals.
Stay cautious when introducing any new internet-connected devices into your home, including toys. To ensure their security, install all firmware updates and research whether any data breaches involving the toy have occurred.
Why Is This Published By A Business Phone Company?
Here at NoContractVoIP, we believe that your success creates our success. And, since we specialize in business communication, we work to help you communicate better while staying safe. We create the cutting edge communication systems that modern companies need. And we’re geeks who get into tech stuff, so we study it for you.
To talk to a business phone system specialist and never worry about any of this again, call 866-550-0005 or contact us today.
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