VOA – News Letter
VOA- THE VIEW – CHAG SAMEACH!
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How To Dispose Of Your Mobile Device
From: SANS Security Awareness
Overview
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, smart watches, and tablets, continue to advance and innovate at an astonishing rate. As a result, you may be replacing a new device as often as every year. Unfortunately, you may not realize just how much personal data are on your devices — far more than your computer. Below we cover the different types of data on your mobile devices and how you can securely wipe your device before disposing or replacing it. If your mobile device was issued to you by work, check with your supervisor about disposal procedures first.
Your Information
Your mobile devices store more sensitive data than you realize, to include . . .
Where you live and work, and your daily travel habits.
The contact details for everyone in your address book, including family, friends, and co-workers. Phone call history including inbound, outbound, voicemail, and missed calls.
Texting or chat sessions within applications like secure chat, games, and social media.
Personal photos, videos, and audio recordings.
Stored passwords and access to your accounts, such as your bank, social media, or email. Health related information, including your age, heart rate, or exercise history.
Financial information including credit cards, payment methods, and transactions.
Erasing Your Device
Regardless of how you dispose of your mobile device, such as donating it, exchanging it for a new one, giving it to someone, reselling it, or even recycling it, first erase all of your sensitive information. Do not assume that the next owner will “do the right thing.” The first step is to back up your device so you can recover and transfer all your data and settings to your new device. Once backed up, you will want to reset your device, as this wipes your data and resets it to factory default. During the reset process you may be prompted to enter your cloud password to break any links with that device to the Cloud; be sure to do this. The reset steps below are for the two most common devices — Apple and Android.
Apple iOS Devices: Settings | General | Transfer or Reset | Erase All Content and Settings.
Android Devices: Settings | System | Reset Options | Erase All Data (these options vary depending on your device manufacturer).
SIM & External Cards
In addition to resetting your device, also consider what to do with your SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card. This is the little card in your phone issued to you by your phone carrier; it’s what identifies your device and enables it to make a cellular or data connection. When you wipe your device, the SIM card retains information about your account and is tied to you. If you are keeping your phone number and moving to a new device, talk to your phone service provider about transferring your SIM card. If this is not possible, keep your old SIM card and physically destroy it. Many of today’s modern smartphones having something called an eSIM, which is a virtual SIM card as opposed to a physical SIM. The eSIM is wiped during the reset process.
Finally, some Android mobile devices utilize a removable SD (Secure Digital) card for additional storage. Remove these external storage cards from your mobile device prior to disposal. These cards can often be re-used in new mobile devices, or can be used as generic storage on your computer with a USB adapter. If reusing your SD card is not possible, then just like your old SIM card, we recommend you physically destroy it.
If you are not sure about any of the steps covered above, or if your device reset options are different, take your mobile device to the store from which you bought it from and get help. Finally, if you are throwing a device away, consider donating it instead. There are many excellent charitable organizations that accept used mobile devices, and many mobile providers have drop-off bins in their stores to recycle them.
9th Annual Village Toy Drive 2022
OUR MISSION IS TO GIVE COLORADO
CHILDREN A MAGICAL HOLIDAY.
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA IS COLLECTING NEW TOYS FOR
CHILDREN IN COLORADO THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.
Please donate new toys (ages 0-16) to First American State Bank at
8390 E. Crescent Pkwy, Suite 100, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 or
Cash Donations directly to Volunteers of America at www.voacolorado.org/toydrive
Deadline for donations is December 16, 2022
How Cyber Attackers Trick You
CYBER ATTACKERS – HOW THEY TRICK YOU
From: SANS Security Awareness
Cyber attackers are constantly innovating ways to trick us into doing things we should not do, like clicking on malicious links, opening infected email attachments, purchasing gift cards or giving up our passwords. In addition, they often use different technologies or platforms to try to trick us, such as email, phone calls, text messaging, or social media. While all of this may seem overwhelming, most of these attacks share the same thing: emotion. By knowing the emotional triggers that cyber attackers use, you can often spot their attacks no matter what method they are using.
It’s all About Emotions
It all starts with emotions. We, as humans, far too often make decisions based on emotions instead of facts. There is, in fact, an entire field of study on this concept called “behavioral economics,” led by researchers such as Daniel Khaneman, Richard Thaler, and Cass Sunstein. Fortunately for us, if we know the emotional triggers to look for, we can successfully spot and stop most attacks. Listed below are the most common emotional triggers for which to watch. Sometimes cyber attackers will use a combination of these different emotions in the same email, text message, social media post, or phone call – making it that much more effective.
Urgency: Urgency is one of the most common emotional triggers, as it’s so effective. Cyber attackers will often use fear, anxiety, scarcity, or intimidation to rush you into making a mistake. Take, for example, an urgent email from your boss demanding sensitive documents to be sent to her right away, when in reality it is a cyber attacker pretending to be your boss. Or perhaps you get a text message from a cyber attacker pretending to be the government informing you that your taxes are overdue and you have to pay now or you will go to jail.
Anger: You get a message about a political, environmental, or social issue that you are very passionate about — something like “you won’t believe what this political group or corporate company is doing!”
Surprise / Curiosity: Sometimes the attacks that are the most successful say the least. Curiosity is evoked with surprise; we want to learn more. It is a response to something unexpected. For example, a cyber attacker sends you a message that a package is undelivered and to click on a link to learn more, even though you did not order anything online. We are enticed to learn more! Unfortunately, there’s no package, just malicious intent on the other side of that link.
Trust: Attackers use a name or brand you trust to convince you into taking an action. For example, a message pretending to be from your bank, a well-known charity, a trusted government organization, or even a person you know. Just because an email or text message uses a name of an organization you know and their logo, does not mean the message actually came from them.
Excitement: You get a text message from your bank or service provider thanking you for making your payments on time. The text message then provides a link where you can claim a reward–a new iPad, how exciting! The link takes you to a website that looks official, but asks for all of your personal information, or says that you need to provide credit card information to cover small shipping/handling costs. This is a cyber attacker who is simply stealing your money or your identity.
Empathy / Compassion: Cyber attackers take advantage of your good will. For example, after a disaster appears on the news, they will send out millions of fake emails pretending to be a charity serving the victims and asking you for money.
By better understanding these emotional triggers, you will be far better prepared to spot and stop cyber attackers, regardless of the lure, technology, or platform they use.
Simple Passwords
MAKING PASSWORDS SIMPLE
From: SANS Security Awareness
You are often told your passwords are key to protecting your accounts (which is true!), but rarely are you given a simple way to securely create and manage all your passwords. Below we cover three simple steps to simplify your passwords, lock down your accounts, and protect your future.