Online safety.
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Avoid public WiFi
Public WiFi usually isn’t as secure as a private network. If you do need to use it:
- Avoid online banking or shopping
- Never save passwords or leave your accounts logged in
- Switch off your device’s ability to auto-connect to public WiFi
- Stay aware of your surroundings.
Protect your social media accounts
Limiting the public information you share on social media can help prevent cyber criminals from using your information for identity theft or fraud. Customise your settings to carefully choose who you allow to see your full profile. Avoid sharing personal data like addresses, middle name, birthdate, travel dates or pet names which can be used to steal your identity or hack your accounts.
Keep devices secure
Devices like mobile phones, tablets and computers are vulnerable to viruses, spyware, malware and other online cyber threats. To help make them more secure you could:
- Install anti-virus software and stay updated with the latest virus definitions and security patches
- Keep your firewall on and run regular security scans
- Make sure your operating system is up to date
- Only install apps from official stores like the Apple App Store® or Google Play™ store
- Avoid removing hardware restrictions on devices.
Use strong passwords
A strong and unpredictable password can help secure your banking, email and social media accounts. Your banking, email and social media accounts contain important information about your identity.
Tips for creating a strong password
- Use a mix of letters, numbers and symbols that aren’t personal to you
- A longer and more complex password is harder to decipher
- Don’t use information that can be easily guessed, like your birthday or address
- To help you remember a password, try using letters and numbers that tell a funny story (like ‘mYd0Gd0e$yog@’).
How to keep your password secure
- Don’t store it or share it
- Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts – this prevents one breach from compromising all of your accounts
- Change your passwords regularly to stay unpredictable.
Buy online safely
Be cautious before you hand over money online. Secure website URLs begin with ‘https’ and show a closed padlock in the address bar. It’s best to buy from stores which offer safe ways to pay, like those with Mastercard SecureCode® at the checkout. Unsafe websites usually have:
- Poor spelling and grammar in URLs and on the page
- Deals that sound too good to be true
- No reviews, fake reviews or bad reviews of the seller.
Better protect your business
Consider limiting who can install programs, change security settings and use programs or networks. You should also encrypt hard drives and sensitive data files, create a guest mode for visitors to restrict network access and limit staff to the use of approved network devices only.
Things to consider
Apple, the Apple logo and Apple Pay are trademarks of Apple Inc. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Bankwest Apple Pay Terms of Use apply.
Android, Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC. Bankwest Google Pay Terms of Use apply. Google Pay and Google Wallet are trademarks of Google LLC.
Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated.
Contact us
Call us on 13 17 19
Call us if you’re concerned about possible fraud.
Call us on +61 8 9449 2840
Call us if you need help from overseas.
Email us
Forward the email to abuse@bankwest.com.au.