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The Next Step in Google Account Security Settings

Hi Guys,

As you may be aware that October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM). In this year 2019, NCSAM is emphasizing on personal accountability and stress the importance of taking proactive steps to enhance cybersecurity at home and in the workplace. As a contribution to this initiative, I would like to share few focus areas you would be required to check in your Google Account after performing basic security settings (such as updating recovery phone number and recovery email).

Before reading below you have to understand what Google Account is. It is a user account with a username and password you used to access consumer products like Gmail, AdSense, YouTube, Docs etc. Alternatively, if you have any of these products, you have a Google account.

1. Third-party apps with Google Account access

You would have gone through situations like “Sign-in with Google Account” for quick sign up for any third-party apps or websites. It’s here Apps with access to your account page where you see all such apps and websites you did sign up in this way. Basically, in this process, you are sharing some sort of your account information and permissions such as:

  • See basic profile information
  • Modify account information
  • Edit, upload & create content in your Google Account

It is possible for these apps to have full access to your account. But don’t worry, these third-party apps can’t change your password, delete your account, or use Google Pay to send, request and receive money. But it could impersonate you if any malicious apps have access to your account by modifying your account information. So, revoke their access if you think any app or website is suspicious.

Read more here – Third-party sites & apps with access to your account

2. Devices that have used your account

It’s here Your devices page you see all such devices that is currently accessing your account and used to access your account. If you find any device you no longer use, use the sign out option to revoke their access. Incase, if you find any unknown device accessing your account, immediately use the sign out option for that device and change password. There is a high chance that someone got your password. Also do not forget to recheck recovery option, the hacker might have changed that too.

Read more here – See devices that have used your account

3. Less secure app access

If you use email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird etc. this option would have turned on. If this option is turned on, you are less secure and it can make hackers to get in to your account easily. You can find this setting at Less secure app access page.

Less secure apps basically mean the apps that use insecure communication protocol (OAuth) for authentication and authorization. It is always recommended to use latest apps which support latest OAuth 2.0 and turn off “less secure app access” option

4. Password manager

You can see the passwords that you save in your Google account here. The Password Checkup tool help you to check the security of your passwords. The Password Checkup tool generate 3 types of report indicating:

  • Whether your password is compromised or not by checking list of data breach information directories
  • Whether your passwords are reused or not
  • Whether your password is weak or not

Reference Links:

Article Written by:
Gem George


Top Benefits of Security Awareness in Your Business

Category : Guest Post

The security-training awareness program is the lifeline of your business. That is because data theft, online frauds, and pilferage of funds are common nowadays. Therefore, sans any training and awareness programs, your staff could end up committing serious blunders, especially when it comes to business transactions and dealings on the internet. These training sessions help in influencing staff behavior, reduce financial threats, and ensure conformity. Yes, there are many benefits of implementing security awareness programs in your organization.

When it comes to security compliance in companies nowadays, the rules, guidelines, and regulations are complicated than ever. That is because businesses produce loads of data, around 2.5 quintillion bytes of information per day. Now, that is not a small figure. Again, there are a growing number of internet hackers, who use sophisticated methods to steal personal and financial data of businesses and customers. You all have heard about ransomware attack and the damage it did to companies worldwide. All these aspects dictate the requirement for security training and awareness in companies, big and small. There is a significant difference between ransomware threats and general security issues. 

According to an article published on https://www.huffingtonpost.ca, about 50 percent of cyber hackers prey on small-sized companies with less than 250 staff in their payroll. Therefore, there is no belittling the perquisites of security awareness training. Here are the top benefits of the same:

Preventing security threats

The obvious benefit is the prevention of security threats to your company. Though it may sound too understandable, you cannot ignore the importance of the same. Then, it is not possible to quantify how many breaches you can prevent when you have an awareness program in place; the process comes with its benefits.

Businesses often run a controlled trial and error test in which the total number of staff is divided into two key groups. One is the control group and the other is the test group. The test group is provided training on security software but not the control group. Once that is completed, the two groups are compared.

There are problems and challenges but that does not imply advanced security awareness training cannot shower benefits. You can gauge the occurrence and prevention of breaches and threats before and after an awareness program. These initiatives matter a lot in modern business operations to prevent financial frauds and security threats.

It is true that the cost of security breaches is more, but you need to take measures to prevent the same in the future. To be candid, awareness-training programs are comparatively less expensive than outsourcing the entire IT security responsibilities to another external team. If you have an in-house IT department with trained security experts, there is nothing like it. Prevention of frauds is imperative for websites like NationaldebtRelief.com to offer loans to their customers. It will help in protecting their data as well as the data of the borrowers to take out consolidated loans.

Making technological methods more powerful than ever

When it comes to technological methods, they are robust ways to avert security threats and breaches. However, technological resistances call for more input from the users. You need to turn on firewalls, acknowledge security warnings, and make upgrades related to software applications.

No company can operate without technological tools and applications if they want to prevent cyber attacks from damaging their computer systems and stealing confidential data. Therefore, you need security training to fulfill the goals of technological defense tools.

Cyber hackers today do not use technology to infiltrate PCs or tamper with data; they target people within the organization, who have easy access to a company’s protected networks. That is why you need security awareness programs in your organization to motivate people to protect the company’s digital assets and data from fraudsters. It acts as a morale booster for your staff.

Develops a healthy company culture

Your company should have a culture of information safety and security across all departments. It is also the holy grail of chief information security officers. In addition, the culture is not that hard to nurture and maintain in an organization. It is one of the best ways to instill a sense of data security in the company, thus heading in the right direction.

Modern security awareness programs understand the significance of safe company culture and take the right steps to prevent online threats, password leaks, customer data theft, business funds pilferage, and things like that. These things matter in protecting your business from hackers and online threats. Once the training programs are implemented, it is necessary to monitor the success and failure of the same. It’s done over the years.

Monitoring the cultural indicators, advanced-security training platforms assist security experts in the company to keep watch, maintain, and build a culture of organizational security, making their staff proactive in detecting security breaches and threats.

Training means communication and imparting knowledge, which is essential in the prevention of security breaches in your company. It is more important to focus on the cultural foundations of the organization. With regular training, your staff cultivates better habits and habits become second nature in no time.

You can also take your awareness programs to the next level with the use of regular security mails, compliance booklets, and posters to retain the security culture of your organization.

Winning customer confidence

Security awareness programs help to build customer trust. Yes, they realize that your business cares about data security and protects their confidential information. Companies that do not have security awareness measures in place, often lose the confidence of their clients. It is not any fiction, but fact.

With awareness programs, you can win more contracts with new clients and retain the existing ones. Studies show that customers value companies that have succeeded in achieving a documented cyber security standard and quality. Therefore, security awareness programs matter to clients and companies too due to increased incidents of cyber security threats and breaches.

Conclusion

Now that you know about the benefits of security awareness programs, implement the same to protect your business and client data.

Article Written by:
Isabella Rossellini


Amazing Online Money Management Apps for Effective Budgeting, Credit & Investing

Category : Guest Post

Technology has revolutionized the way we manage our money. Today it is quite easy to constantly keep track of your money. Technology has dramatically changed every aspect of your financial life. Since today people are using technology for efficiently managing financial tasks, they can easily cut down their spending, save their time, and effectively eliminate the tedious activities associated with money management. Cutting-edge tools and software apps boast of wide-ranging capabilities and can reduce the stress associated with money management.

There are numerous ways of watching your investments, spending, and more. As you are always having a mobile phone in your bag or pocket, apps prove to be highly beneficial. The most crucial aspect of effectively managing your finances is to understand and watch your cash flow. One of the critical factors that lead to financial success is to know the exact amount coming into your bank account and where the money is ultimately going.

Fortunately, the market is flooded with efficient online money management apps that are effectively designed for checking your bank balance, tracking spending, and analyzing your overall money habits. Several cutting-edge apps would be assisting you in making enhanced financial decisions depending on the important data collected from your accounts.

Personal Capital: Undoubtedly the Best

Personal Capital is supposed to be a wonderful money management app that would be helping you in effectively tracking your budget and even collect information relating to your investment accounts. The app’s interface is intuitive. Moreover, the visuals or images are easy to find on phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. You could have easy access to investment graphs by asset class, individual investment, or investment account. Thus, Personal Capital helps you in easily managing your portfolio and tracking your overall investment performance. 

However, the budgetary functions of Personal Capital are not so intuitive or effective in comparison to other online money management tools and apps yet you could get your work completed efficiently. The greatest benefit offered by Personal Capital is that all your investments are included in the equation thus, providing you with a holistic idea regarding your entire financial picture.

Yodlee: Simple Account Aggregator

Yodlee is supposed to be comprehensive online financial management software. It is unique in its own right and not a budgeting or cash flow tool. It provides a consolidated outlook of your assets from various accounts like insurance, brokerage, mortgage, 401(1k), etc. It is quite competent in tracking your overall financial health. Yodlee can successfully track the net worth of users and is also great at creating a budget & tracking your overall spending, monitoring online accounts, tracking real estate value, creating accurate expense analysis charts, and helps you in sharing account access with your accountant or spouse, or financial planner.

Users could pay any individual or biller, transfer funds, receive e-bills from more than 2900 institutions, pay all the bills via debit or credit cards, set up direct mobile access, and create transaction alerts. Yodlee is regarded as the most secure and protected money management app online. Despite these apps, if you need some professional assistance and expertise on money matters, you may browse through reputed organization like liberty lending

Mint.com: Top Budgeting App

Mint is a phenomenally popular personal finance app. This excellent app comes free and assists you in religiously maintaining the budget created by you, by constantly sending you all the notifications once you have reached the budget limit for the month. Mint assists you in maintaining healthy financial habits. It gives a comprehensive view of your financial scenario.

Mint brings a high-quality product to its users and it helps in analyzing your saving, spending, and financial habits while providing expert recommendations for possible improvements and that may include demonstrating to users the amount they could be saving or earning provided they use a credit card that offers a lower rate of interest. Mint also, offers great saving ideas by purchasing a relatively less costly cable service. It suggests effective ways to earn a higher interest rate from your bank account.

Therefore, Mint has been designed and created predominantly for budgeting and tracking cash flow. It recently acquired the capacity to constantly track investments. Mint comes up with efficient money management tools and apps for iPhone, iPad, or Android platforms.

Wally: Great Budgeting App

As per https://www.doughroller.net, Wally is regarded as a stripped-down budgeting application that does not have too many bells and whistles. Here are some of its unique features. Wally is known to support practically all foreign currencies. If your work or lifestyle keeps you perpetually outside the country, you could be immensely benefitted by Wally. It could be of great assistance to you.

Wally lets you save images of receipts for keeping constant track of important things associated with business and taxes without handling any complicated documentation or paperwork. Wally would tell you precisely the amount that you have in your account and the exact amount still left in your budget until the month-end. Wally is incredibly popular with millennials since it provides you with valuable financial information and helps in efficiently managing all your finances online without relying on any paperwork whatsoever.

PocketGuard: Top Online Money Management App

If you need a good money management application online that would also assist you actively in finding savings within your regular spending, you simply need to consider syncing PocketGuard and your accounts for tracking and helping you track and analyze spending. This valuable information is then utilized by you for building a better and robust budget.

FutureAdvisor: Top Investment Recommendation Tool

FutureAdvisor is supposed to be a competent but free online money management app for aggregating your investment accounts. It provides valuable suggestions for reaching your precise financial goals and aspirations.

FutureAdvisor provides a couple of plan levels, premium and free. We understand that the free plan would be giving you access to investment recommendations and portfolio review. Moreover, in the premium plan, we know that FutureAdvisor would be making certain recommendations, for you.

Credit Karma

Credit Karma is great for providing users valuable credit report information. It would help in tracking your credit limits, open lines of credit, inquiries, debt to income ratios, etc. Credit Karma provides users with good recommendations to enhance their credit score.

Conclusion

The online money management tools, apps, and programs would be offering customers different capabilities for tracking their finances. Choose one or more apps as per your unique requirements. Make the most of technology and you would be on the right road to financial stability and success.

Article Written by:
Isabella Rossellini