Last month I was hacked. A dehumanising experience from start to finish; not that it ever really finishes. Somebody (not me) had ordered a lovely stainless steel bunk bed with my credit card on Wayfair, the furniture website.
Apparently, it’s commonplace, which is both cold comfort and not a case of safety in numbers. The aforementioned somebody even had the temerity to change my address to theirs and not attempt to hide it.
As appears to be the way these days I got a crime number, but I doubt anybody got arrested or identified or even spoken to; which is a green light for this crime to continue.
One thing I did find out which may be of some use is that the credit score company, Clear Score www.clearscore.com have an alarmingly useful service whereby they will tell you how many of your passwords have been stolen and, more alarmingly how many have been found on the dark web, a new thing for me but shows us what we don’t know about our data.
I ‘get it; there are far more important things going on in life, to worry about. I also ‘get it’ further, it was my fault. However, when it happens to you (as it surely will) you’ll have to unlearn that favourite password you’ve used too many times; forget that number you had in your head – that post fixed every one of your favourite passwords, and perhaps like me you’ll become more circumspect about who has your details!
I was shocked when I looked at just how many things I’d subscribed to that could have been the source of my hack. Once bitten twice shy; or in my case one hundred times shy!
One of the things we have been wrestling with at TWP is how we minimise the use of email; it’s fine for agreeing on a time and place to meet up, but sending confidential documents and the like it’s a very hackable and unsafe tool.
Furthermore, to get around the confidential nature of this transfer we password protect documents leading to even more scope to forget passwords, get confused and give up!
This is why we intend to gradually wean ourselves off email and onto a new online portal to send you any correspondence which is personal and confidential; we take your data and your security very seriously and hence this is a betterment for you.
Over the last few months we have been researching and investigating solutions to this problem and in the coming months we will roll out the new TWP online portal which has security at its heart. We will discuss this at your next financial review meeting, but if you are keen to set this up earlier, please get in touch with us and we will be happy to talk you through it.
Initially we will be sending secure documents (those with personal information contained within) through the portal and we even have the ability to send documents to be digitally signed – how very techy of us?
We also have the ability, in time, to add real-time valuations but we’ve decided to crawl – walk – sprint with all of this so we will be starting with just messages. Once that is up and running and you feel comfortable using the portal, we can add more access for you as you feel fit.
All we need from you, is your email and mobile – no IT degree needed – I promise!
All the best,
Mark Shotton
Don’t Forget The Fish February 2021