5 Tips for Using Cloud Services to Keep Your Private Information Safe

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Marijana Dabic

Storing documents, photos and data in cloud storage can be very convenient. Some people feel it’s much easier to have everything in one place instead of carrying around flash drives or discs that contain your data. But recent events in the media may have you doubting whether the private information you keep in cloud storage is safe from hackers.

Here are five tips to help keep your cloud data safe from hackers:

Use strong passwords and do not use the same password for multiple accounts.
Don’t answer security questions honestly. Security questions can be hacked right along with passwords. Make up your own security question, if possible. The answer doesn’t have to be true-just something you can remember.
Turn on two-step authorization to require more than a password, such as a security question and a password to successfully sign in to your account.
Find out what you are automatically backing up in the cloud. If you don’t want your info to back up automatically, turn that setting off.
Understand that you have limited control over the security of what you store on the Internet. To put it into perspective, think of it as storing data on someone else’s computer. You cannot control what he or she does with it or how it is secured.

Thank You to All Who attended ABEX’s Open House

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Marijana Dabic

A big thank you to everyone who attended ABEX’s open house last night, making it such a huge success!

We enjoyed the opportunity to chat with you, share some great stories and enjoy wonderful refreshments.

Thanks again!

ABEX Affiliated Brokers Exchange

ABEX Open House

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Marijana Dabic

We are looking forward to seeing our guests at the Open House tomorrow. There are only a few more spots left for those who still want to register.

ABEX OPEN HOUSE CELEBRATION

We hope you can join us to celebrate our new office, share some great company and enjoy delightful refreshments.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 3:00 – 7:00

ABEX AFFILIATED BROKERS EXCHANGE

375 HAGEY BOULEVARD, SUITE 302, WATERLOO

Click here for a map

RSVP:

Click here to register

or call Jennifer Penner at 1-888-643-2217 ext. 2849.

All attendees will be entered in our prize draw. Please feel free to pass the invitation along to your colleagues.

Protect Your Business from Occupational Fraud

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Marijana Dabic

You may feel that your employees would never steal from you or that your business would never be the victim of theft, but the harsh reality is that nearly every business is eventually victimized by fraud or theft. In this day and age, thieves (including your employees) do not need direct access to cash to steal from you; merchandise, supplies and securities are all fair game. You may also be susceptible to losses if finished products or even raw materials are stolen right from under your nose. Essentially, any product can be a target for thieves if there is an opportunity to make a resale profit.

According to research done by the Certified Fraud Examiners, every year, companies all over the globe lose 5 per cent of their revenue because of occupational fraud. That equals about $3.8 trillion in losses.

To put that into perspective, let’s say you racked up $1 trillion of debt. You’ve worked out an agreement to pay off your debt by giving back $1 every second. How long would it take you to get your debt down to zero? Thirty-two thousand years.

There are things you can do to protect your business from occupational fraud. Here are a few of them:

Become aware of behaviours that would be considered “red flags.”
Train supervisors on recognizing potential red flags and on how to react when they discover them. Employees should be aware that they can report any incidents they see.
Focus your efforts more on preventing occupational fraud rather than recovering from it. Although it may be tempting to take a backseat in trying to prevent these incidents, it will cost you much more to recover from the occupational fraud.
Purchase crime insurance.

No matter the size of your company, employee theft remains a very real possibility, which is why it’s important to take steps to insure your business against losses stemming from an incident. While standard property and inland marine insurance policies provide some protection from criminal acts, they often do not cover losses resulting from employee dishonesty. Crime insurance was developed to deal with the limitations of other policies and extend protection to include the fraudulent activities of employees.

Guard Your Data When Using Mobile Apps

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Marijana Dabic

Apps can do pretty much anything—they can find the best local restaurants, chart the quickest routes through snarled city traffic and track weight loss. Unfortunately, they can also steal your data.

In order for apps to do the convenient, beneficial things they do, they use customers’ personal information, such as physical location, contact details and passwords. Unscrupulous data thieves can steal your employees’ devices and gain access to this valuable information, or they can siphon it through a rogue app that your employees downloaded without knowing it was malicious. Hackers do this by adding their own illegitimate elements to a popular app and then offering it for free on a ‘bulletin board’ or through a fake online store. Once employees download the phony app, hackers may have unfettered access to their devices.

To help thwart data theft attempts, encourage your employees to follow these tips for securing personal information when using apps:

Download apps only from official, trusted stores. Be extremely wary of apps from unknown sources.
Read the information about an app in the app store before downloading it. Verify that you are comfortable with the amount and type of personal information it will be using.
Clear out unused apps regularly—inactive apps are an open invitation to thieves. If you no longer use an app, uninstall it.
Install mobile security software to defend your device.
Erase any apps from the device before you recycle, resell or donate it, since they may have access to your personal information. Activate the “factory reset” option in the device’s settings.

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