Alabama has taken first place in a new study, but it is nothing to be happy about. Cybercrime is on the rise and, according to VPN experts VPNPro, Alabama has suffered the highest losses to cybercrime than any other state. According to VPNPro, the Yellowhammer state has lost an average of over fifty thousand dollars per victim over the last year. This is very high compared to the national average of over eighteen thousand dollars of losses per victim nationwide. Dr. Travis Atkinson is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and the Cyber Security Program Director at the University of Alabama. He says to be wary of phishing attempts through emails and text messages:
“If you get something that says oh hey, we’ve seen some suspicious activity on your account. Well, you know, where did that really come from? Maybe you see where they claim that they need to confirm some information. I’ve seen a number of these, oh we need to confirm your account number for XYZ purposes.”
Some of these scams also include fake retail sites that lead people to disclose sensitive information. Dr. Atkinson also says to be aware of how much information you are giving on social media:
“Everyone needs to be very cautious about what they are doing on social media. A piece of information here and a piece of information there by themselves may be innocuous but put those together and they can gain an awful lot of information… who was your first-grade teacher? where were you born?...your favorite pet’s name… Things like that are very easily gained.”
Dr. Atkinson says this type of personal information could be pieced together to answer security questions to your accounts.
The study suggests that this criminal activity could pick up significantly over the holidays. It is always advisable to verify the identity of emails and phone calls and to be careful when sharing personal information.
