Hack Attacks Threaten Online Accounts

By now we all have accepted this reality: the information superhighway is a two-way street.  For all of its benefits – and there are many – the Internet also has an undeniable dark side.  It provides unscrupulous individuals with access to our homes, our personal information – even our property.  Stock scam artists use the Internet and e-mail to introduce themselves, promote “get-rich-quick schemes” and worthless stocks, gain our trust, and motivate us to invest unwisely.  Identity thieves surf cyberspace for intimate details of our lives – birth dates and social security numbers – that allow them to impersonate us while obtaining credit or buying goods.  Phony vendors offer non-existent products and quickly disappear with credit card information or cash.

And now we learn that a new group of cyber-thieves has been gaining access to online brokerage accounts and making unauthorized trades   The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) says that these “hack attacks” have involved trades worth millions of dollars in online accounts for customers in the United States and Canada.

• Regulators are investigating some of these schemes, but investors need to protect themselves against potential losses.  Customers who trade online must be alert and proactive.  Start by taking the following steps, recommended by NASAA: Insist that your online brokerage firm confirm all transfers and transaction before they are executed;  
• Never use an unprotected computer to access your accounts and records.  Avoid computers at cyber cafes, hotels, airports, libraries coffee houses or offices. Internet connections at these locations may be over an unsecured network that can be accessed by anyone;  
• Make sure your computer is protected against viruses.  Run the virus scan regularly and keep your computer firewall updated.  Never open e-mail attachments from unknown senders since they may contain viruses.  
• Do not respond to unsolicited e-mails from your online broker or other vendors asking you to confirm personal account information.  These companies already have your personal information and would not try to reconfirm it through e-mail.   
• Do not respond to e-mails that ask you to follow a link to your broker or another vendor.  These links almost invariably lead to bogus cloned sites that look like the real thing but really are just another insidious way to get your personal information. 
  
• Before entering personal information on any web site, look for the “locked padlock” icon on the browser frame, or “https” at the beginning of the web address to ensure that the site is secure.  
• Change passwords regularly.  
• Log off the web site after you have submitted an application or concluded a secure online session.  
• Do not instruct a computer (other than your personal home computer that cannot be accessed by anyone else) to “remember” your password after you have visited a secure site.  
• When your computer is not in use, shut it down or disconnect it from the Internet.  
• Investors who believe that their account information has been compromised should contact the brokerage firm immediately and report the incident to local police and securities regulators.

The first line of defense against these attacks is vigilance.


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Hartley Bernstein