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Cybersecurity and Older Americans
Older Americans are online more than ever before.
According to May
2013 testimony by Federal Trade Commission Acting Director Charles Harwood
the “number of adults over 65 who use the Internet is increasing rapidly”.
The Internet provides older Americans the opportunity to stay connected with
their community, friends and loved ones, shop, plan travel, and manage their
finances. With these opportunities, however, come risks, especially as cyber
criminals take advantage of older Americans’ lack of familiarity with
technology to access to their personal information, especially for financial
gain. For example, criminals are using the Affordable Care Act to take
advantage of seniors, getting access to their personal and medical
information for purposes of identity theft and collecting payments for
fraudulent insurance plans.
Older Americans should take special care when conducting
the following activities online:
Connecting with friends and family. Only add people
who you know on social media (e.g., Facebook) and programs like Skype. Adding
strangers can expose you and your personal information to scammers. Do
not include a lot of personal information about yourself on websites,
even if the site requests it. For example, do not share your address or
telephone number.
Getting medical advice and information. Many
pharmaceutical companies create websites with information to sell their
products. Look for sites ending in .edu (for education) or .gov (for
government) for accurate guidance. Also, be on the lookout for websites
claiming to sell legitimate prescription drugs at much lower prices.
Banking. Do not access your bank accounts from a
public computer or through an unsecured wireless network. Do not reveal your
personal information, such as social security number, bank account number, or
date of birth, to unknown sources. When paying a bill online or making an
online donation, be sure that you type the website address into your browser
instead of clicking on a link or cutting and pasting it from an email.
Online shopping. Make sure you only shop on
websites that start with “https” – the ‘s’ means that the website is secure.
Look for the padlock icon at the bottom of your browser, which indicates that
the site uses encryption to protect your personal information, such as your
credit card number. Type new website URLs directly in the address bar instead
of clicking on links or cutting and pasting them from emails.
Older Americans can benefit from following these general
online safety tips from the Stop.Think.Connect.™ Campaign:
- Choose
strong passwords. Choose a password that means something to you and
you only. Use strong passwords with eight characters or more that use a
combination of numbers, letters, and symbols. Do not include your
name, your kids or pets names, or other well-known information about
yourself in your passwords. Avoid using common words in your password or
passphrases. Instead, break up words with numbers and punctuation marks
or symbols. For example, @ can replace the letter “A” and an exclamation
point (!) can replace the letters “I” and “L”
- Think
before you click. Avoid opening attachments, clicking on links, or
responding to email messages from unknown senders or companies that ask
for your personal information.
- Keep
a clean machine. Install and regularly update the
software on your computer, including anti-virus and anti-spyware
programs. These programs can help protect the information stored on your
computer.
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