CloudTech24’s Post

Curious about what really happens when your information is compromised, and the entity at fault offers "free monitoring" through a third party? Don’t expect much. From personal experience, I've seen a credit card provider alert users about their information appearing on the Dark Web while the third-party monitoring service claims "everything is fine" and reports "no alerts." While there's a limit to how much you can protect yourself, here are some proactive steps to enhance your security: Implement credit freezes at all three major credit bureaus. Use two-factor authentication (2FA) or a security key like Yubikey for all accounts. If you use an authenticator app on your phone, ensure that the app itself is password or PIN protected. Stay vigilant and take these steps to better safeguard your personal information.

🚨 6 Smart Ways to Protect Your Finances Online! 🚨 1️⃣ Biometric Authentication: Go beyond passwords! Fingerprint, facial recognition, or voice ID can block 99% of unauthorized access. 🔒 2️⃣ Use VPNs & Fraud Alerts: Avoid public Wi-Fi risks. A trusted VPN encrypts your data. Set up transaction alerts for real-time fraud detection. 🌐🔔 3️⃣ Encrypted Messaging: Use apps like WhatsApp or Signal for secure financial communication. Back up your data with encryption. 📱💬 4️⃣ Stay Alert for Scams: Phishing emails and fake calls are rampant. Verify requests—banks won’t ask for sensitive info via email/text. 🚫📧 5️⃣ Audit App Permissions: Don’t let financial apps access unnecessary data. Regularly review and restrict permissions. 🔍 6️⃣ Adopt a Zero Trust Approach: Strong passwords, 2FA, and segmenting financial accounts (separate emails) can minimize risks. 🔑

Information Security Tip of the Day: Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Enhance your account security by enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) wherever possible. MFA adds an extra layer of protection by requiring not only your password but also a second form of verification, such as a text message code, authentication app, or biometric verification. This significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if your password is compromised.

3 steps to turn on multi-factor authentication for your small business. “MFA provides us with extra security by confirming our identities when logging in to our accounts, like entering a code texted to a phone or one generated by an authenticator app. MFA increases security—it can make us significantly safer online. Even if our passwords become compromised, unauthorized users will be unable to meet the second step requirement and will not be able to access our accounts.” https://lnkd.in/gHgnftTQ

There has been discussions about the best way to plug holes in authentication armour of an organisation. First point to consider is whether there are really chinks in the armour. On that front, best biometric has an error rate of 0.78%. Most authenticator apps have known vulnerabilities. OTP sending via mobile devices are fraught with vulnerabilities. PKI accuracy has issues due to incorrect implementation of all its moving parts. In short, there’s a need for more accurate identity mechanisms. Secondly, any entity (human or bot) must exactly have a triplet of (account, device, software). No more or less. So, if these aspects are authenticated accurately, one would be stopping a lot of cyberattacks and data compromise. Agree? Please comment and let me know if your thoughts. Ream Demnati + Asad Malik + Rajeev Kaushal + Navin Advani + Atul S + Ajay Duppaliwar

Password recovery. If you were dealing with your own staff whom lost his password, that would be totally fine, but how can you help customers recover their passwords? How can you tell that the request is genuine? Back in the days, companies used recovery questions, which was such a stupid mechanism to use, the answers could be guessed after doing a simple study on your target! A possible solution is through the user's email, but in this case, compromising the email means compromizing all dependent accounts, so email providers had to work around this by using a second factor authentication by sending you an SMS to your phone; some intelligent ones user an app to encrypt and decrypt the authentication code. But sending SMSs poses another challenge: hackers have ways to intercept such messages, such as doing SIM-swapping, or wiretaping the smartphone. It's an arm race! A next move is using authentication apps or tokens, and notify the user about any access to his account.

Basic authentication is increasingly insecure, so implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is essential. TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) offers a secure, cost-effective solution by generating time-sensitive codes via authenticator apps like Google Authenticator. This blog guides you through setting up TOTP in a .NET application, from generating a unique secret for each user to validating OTPs, and enhancing security beyond email or SMS-based OTPs. https://lnkd.in/gSkpKcPH #security #totp #dotnet #mfa

Two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds extra protection to your online accounts by requiring two or more ways to verify your identity. You might already be using it, like when you enter a password and receive an SMS code to log in! MFA uses: 1️⃣ Something you know, like a password or pin 2️⃣ Something you have, such as a smartcard or authenticator app 3️⃣ Something you are, for example your fingerprint or facial recognition Adding MFA is like installing a house alarm that needs a PIN to turn off — it makes it much harder for cybercriminals to break in, even if they crack your password. Protect yourself today with MFA! #MFA #CyberSecurityAwarenessMonth #DCS

SIM Swapping. What is it? SIM swapping is a growing cyberattack where hackers take control of your phone number by transferring it to a new SIM card. This allows them to get your SMS 2FA (two-factor authentication) codes. This attack was easier in the past because SIMs used to be physical but now we have eSIMs, but it is still possible. If a malicious actor has enough information to trick (social engineer) the carrier (think Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) into changing your eSIM to a different device, then they will be able to receive any text message. How you can better protect yourself - -Use app-based 2FA instead of SMS on every account. I will be mentioning this soon in an upcoming post -Set up a PIN or passcode with your mobile carrier. -Set up the most possible safeguards within your carrier account.

🔒 Check out our latest security improvements. This time we're talking Two-Factor-Authentication. 1. With 2FA, every Affire user can now enable or disable this feature by receiving a verification code via email. 2. For admin profiles, we have implemented a more robust 2FA process. Instead of receiving a code via email, admin users will use Google Authenticator to complete the verification. ✍ Read more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/duvdxmMY