Enhancing Personal Security in Today's Digital Age: Insights from Kimelman & Baird's Webinar

In a world where digital interconnectedness reigns supreme, ensuring personal security has never been more vital. Recently, Kimelman & Baird hosted a webinar titled "Personal Security from All Angles," featuring Gary Rossi, Head of the Personal Security Insights Program at Fidelity Investments. With an esteemed background in cybersecurity and experience with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Rossi brought a wealth of knowledge to the discussion, shedding light on critical aspects of personal security essential for our financial well-being.

Here are 4 tips provided by Fidelity Investments that you can adopt to protect yourself from cyber fraud:

Strategy 1: Protect your financial accounts—employ extra layers of protection for accounts of value. 

• Use a strong and unique username and password. 
• Employ two-factor authentication (2FA) for all financial accounts and sites that store your financial information (debit card, credit card, bank account number, etc.). A 2FA is the addition of a second step (e.g., an extra, one-time password) to the log-in process; the feature is generally available, but must be enabled, on financial, social, and email accounts. 
• Leverage alerts on all financial accounts to warn you of suspicious activity. 
• Leverage voice biometrics (like Fidelity’s MyVoice) that detect and verify your voice on a call. 
• Freeze your credit—this will make it more difficult for thieves to open new accounts in your name. Read more about how to do it at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission website.   

Strategy 2: Protect your email account(s). 

• Use a strong and unique password.
• Employ 2FA. 
• Don’t keep sensitive data (like account numbers) in your email folders. 

Strategy 3: Protect your mobile account.

• Use a strong and unique password. 
• Employ 2FA for online accounts whenever possible. 
• Manage “trusted devices”. More on setting up 2FA and “Trusted Devices” on Apple products.

Strategy 4: Protect your computer.

• Keep operating system up to date (auto-update is recommended).
• Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date. 
• Be very cautious when clicking on email attachments or links.
• If possible, use a dedicated device for financial transactions.
• Be wary of Wi-Fi networks: All browsing that involves sensitive information should be on a network you trust. 
• Don’t save passwords or credit card numbers in your web browser.

Download Personal Security Insights Proven Strategies for Safeguarding Wealth & Family brochure that outlines more best practices you can adopt to protect yourself, without having to overthink it. 

You can also listen to webinar replay here. 

By leveraging the knowledge and resources shared, you can take proactive steps towards safeguarding your financial well-being in an increasingly interconnected world.

If you have further questions or require additional information, please contact us.

Kimelman & Baird is not affiliated with Fidelity Investments. The views expressed by the speaker or third party in the webinar are those of the speaker or third-party. Any such material or information presented by a third-party is for informational purposes only. Kimelman & Baird makes no representation as to the accuracy of any information presented by a third-party.