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How Cyber Savvy Are You? Take Our Quiz to Find Out

By RBC

Published November 29, 2021 • 1 Min Read

Our use of social media, email and popular apps can leave us vulnerable to hackers. Fortunately, there are ways we can protect ourselves. The key is to be aware of what the risks are, and what steps can be taken to stay safe. Do you know how to keep your accounts secure or how to spot a suspicious email? Take our quiz to find out just how cyber savvy you are.
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Mostly As – You’ve got some learning to catch up on

As technology advances, so do the skills, tricks and tactics used by cyber criminals. Being informed about common cyber scams, and knowing how to protect yourself, will be key to keeping yourself and your information safe. You’ve got some learning to catch up on, but this quiz was a great start to your cyber security education!

Read below or visit our Cyber Security page for more tips on how to protect yourself online.

Phishing

A phishing scam is designed to try and trick you into opening attachments, clicking links or entering confidential data, such as your bank account number, password, username or other top-secret login details. Scams can present themselves in many forms, which is why it’s important to be wary of any text or email from a questionable source.

Keep in mind, your financial institution will never ask you to provide account information or passwords over text or email – if you’re asked for these details, delete the email!

Passwords

Any email you receive that asks you to act urgently, and contains a link to help you take immediate action, is likely from a fraudulent source. If in doubt about the status of your account, enter the website address you normally use to log in, and make changes from there. Never follow an email link to enter personal and confidential information.

Password theft is one of the most common ways cyber criminals access your personal information online. That’s why your passwords should be long, complex, and difficult to guess. If you’ve got the word “password” or the digits “1234″ in your password repertoire, you may as well be personally opening the door for hackers to browse through your information.

Using a password phrase, rather than just a word, is a great place to start. To make the password even harder to crack, misspell words, add spaces, and include punctuation, special characters and/or numbers.

Ransomware

If you have been targeted in a cyber attack, the most important thing is to get help as soon as possible. Many incidents go unreported because victims are embarrassed or unsure about what to do next. Rather than trying to solve the problem on your own, ask your resident IT professional for help. When in doubt, disconnect your computer from the network to keep the ransomware from spreading!

Keep in mind, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to regularly back up your data – and to have back ups off-site. That way if you are victim of a ransomware attack, you won’t lose anything!

Software Updates

It’s so easy to click “Not Now” or “Remind Me Later” in response to a software update, but keeping your operating system and third-party apps up-to-date is in fact one of the most critical actions you can do to keep all your devices – and yourself – safe!

Updating and revising software allows your device to plug security holes that have been discovered, as well as fix or remove computer bugs. Plus, updates can add new features to your devices and remove outdated ones.

Wi-Fi

While many hotels, coffee shops and restaurants conveniently offer public Wi-Fi, it’s easy for a hacker to snoop on all the data you send online — including usernames and passwords — while connected to that public network. WiFi Eavesdropping, as it’s called, is one of the most common fraud tactics. Fortunately, protecting yourself isn’t difficult. The trick is to be aware of where and how you’re vulnerable.

A VPN service is a program that channels all your internet traffic through a secure provider outside of the public Wi-Fi hotspot. This means that all the websites you visit — or emails you send — will funnel through an encrypted and very secure system. Choosing a paid, reputable VPN service is critical, as there are some fake, free VPN apps out there that could do more harm than good.

Reporting Cyber Fraud

Did you know that nearly nine in 10 victims of fraud do not report the incident or talk about it with anyone?

There are several reasons it’s important to report both cyber attempts and actual attacks. For one, by contacting your financial institution immediately, you may be able to recover losses incurred as a result of the fraudulent activity.

Also, hiding fraud helps fraudsters get away with their scams. The more RBC knows about current fraudulent activity, the better prepared we can be to fight against it and ensure we have the best safeguards in place to protect you. By contacting the police, you can help them investigate the fraud in order to catch the culprits behind the scams.

Your Role

Cyber security is everyone’s business, and you share the responsibility to protect your information. And while RBC is committed to keeping your financial information safe and secure, there are simple steps you can take to proactively protect yourself, from creating strong passwords to avoiding public WiFi to do your banking.

Mostly Bs – You’re well on your way to being cyber savvy!

You’re well on your way to being cyber savvy! Keep in mind that as technology advances, so do the skills, tricks and tactics used by cyber criminals. Being informed about common cyber scams, and knowing how to protect yourself, will be key to keeping yourself and your information safe now and in the future.

Read below or visit our Cyber Security page for more tips on how to protect yourself online.

Phishing

A phishing scam is designed to try and trick you into opening attachments, clicking links or entering confidential data, such as your bank account number, password, username or other top-secret login details. Scams can present themselves in many forms, which is why it’s important to be wary of any text or email from a questionable source.

Keep in mind, your financial institution will never ask you to provide account information or passwords over text or email – if you’re asked for these details, delete the email!

Passwords

Any email you receive that asks you to act urgently, and contains a link to help you take immediate action, is likely from a fraudulent source. If in doubt about the status of your account, enter the website address you normally use to log in, and make changes from there. Never follow an email link to enter personal and confidential information.

Password theft is one of the most common ways cyber criminals access your personal information online. That’s why your passwords should be long, complex, and difficult to guess. If you’ve got the word “password” or the digits “1234″ in your password repertoire, you may as well be personally opening the door for hackers to browse through your information.

Using a password phrase, rather than just a word, is a great place to start. To make the password even harder to crack, misspell words, add spaces, and include punctuation, special characters and/or numbers.

Ransomware

If you have been targeted in a cyber attack, the most important thing is to get help as soon as possible. Many incidents go unreported because victims are embarrassed or unsure about what to do next. Rather than trying to solve the problem on your own, ask your resident IT professional for help. When in doubt, disconnect your computer from the network to keep the ransomware from spreading!

Keep in mind, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to regularly back up your data – and to have back ups off-site. That way if you are victim of a ransomware attack, you won’t lose anything!

Software Updates

It’s so easy to click “Not Now” or “Remind Me Later” in response to a software update, but keeping your operating system and third-party apps up-to-date is in fact one of the most critical actions you can do to keep all your devices – and yourself – safe!

Updating and revising software allows your device to plug security holes that have been discovered, as well as fix or remove computer bugs. Plus, updates can add new features to your devices and remove outdated ones.

Wi-Fi

While many hotels, coffee shops and restaurants conveniently offer public Wi-Fi, it’s easy for a hacker to snoop on all the data you send online — including usernames and passwords — while connected to that public network. WiFi Eavesdropping, as it’s called, is one of the most common fraud tactics. Fortunately, protecting yourself isn’t difficult. The trick is to be aware of where and how you’re vulnerable.

A VPN service is a program that channels all your internet traffic through a secure provider outside of the public Wi-Fi hotspot. This means that all the websites you visit — or emails you send — will funnel through an encrypted and very secure system. Choosing a paid, reputable VPN service is critical, as there are some fake, free VPN apps out there that could do more harm than good.

Reporting Cyber Fraud

Did you know that nearly nine in 10 victims of fraud do not report the incident or talk about it with anyone?

There are several reasons it’s important to report both cyber attempts and actual attacks. For one, by contacting your financial institution immediately, you may be able to recover losses incurred as a result of the fraudulent activity.

Also, hiding fraud helps fraudsters get away with their scams. The more RBC knows about current fraudulent activity, the better prepared we can be to fight against it and ensure we have the best safeguards in place to protect you. By contacting the police, you can help them investigate the fraud in order to catch the culprits behind the scams.

Your Role

Cyber security is everyone’s business, and you share the responsibility to protect your information. And while RBC is committed to keeping your financial information safe and secure, there are simple steps you can take to proactively protect yourself, from creating strong passwords to avoiding public WiFi to do your banking.

Mostly C/D – Way to go! You’re already super cyber savvy.

Way to go! You’re already super cyber savvy. Keep in mind that as technology advances, so do the skills, tricks and tactics used by cyber criminals. Staying up-to-date about common cyber scams, and knowing how to protect yourself, will be key to keeping yourself and your information safe now and in the future.

Read below or visit our Cyber Security page for more tips on how to protect yourself online.

Phishing

A phishing scam is designed to try and trick you into opening attachments, clicking links or entering confidential data, such as your bank account number, password, username or other top-secret login details. Scams can present themselves in many forms, which is why it’s important to be wary of any text or email from a questionable source.

Keep in mind, your financial institution will never ask you to provide account information or passwords over text or email – if you’re asked for these details, delete the email!

Passwords

Any email you receive that asks you to act urgently, and contains a link to help you take immediate action, is likely from a fraudulent source. If in doubt about the status of your account, enter the website address you normally use to log in, and make changes from there. Never follow an email link to enter personal and confidential information.

Password theft is one of the most common ways cyber criminals access your personal information online. That’s why your passwords should be long, complex, and difficult to guess. If you’ve got the word “password” or the digits “1234″ in your password repertoire, you may as well be personally opening the door for hackers to browse through your information.

Using a password phrase, rather than just a word, is a great place to start. To make the password even harder to crack, misspell words, add spaces, and include punctuation, special characters and/or numbers.

Ransomware

If you have been targeted in a cyber attack, the most important thing is to get help as soon as possible. Many incidents go unreported because victims are embarrassed or unsure about what to do next. Rather than trying to solve the problem on your own, ask your resident IT professional for help. When in doubt, disconnect your computer from the network to keep the ransomware from spreading!

Keep in mind, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to regularly back up your data – and to have back ups off-site. That way if you are victim of a ransomware attack, you won’t lose anything!

Software Updates

It’s so easy to click “Not Now” or “Remind Me Later” in response to a software update, but keeping your operating system and third-party apps up-to-date is in fact one of the most critical actions you can do to keep all your devices – and yourself – safe!

Updating and revising software allows your device to plug security holes that have been discovered, as well as fix or remove computer bugs. Plus, updates can add new features to your devices and remove outdated ones.

Wi-Fi

While many hotels, coffee shops and restaurants conveniently offer public Wi-Fi, it’s easy for a hacker to snoop on all the data you send online — including usernames and passwords — while connected to that public network. WiFi Eavesdropping, as it’s called, is one of the most common fraud tactics. Fortunately, protecting yourself isn’t difficult. The trick is to be aware of where and how you’re vulnerable.

A VPN service is a program that channels all your internet traffic through a secure provider outside of the public Wi-Fi hotspot. This means that all the websites you visit — or emails you send — will funnel through an encrypted and very secure system. Choosing a paid, reputable VPN service is critical, as there are some fake, free VPN apps out there that could do more harm than good.

Reporting Cyber Fraud

Did you know that nearly nine in 10 victims of fraud do not report the incident or talk about it with anyone?

There are several reasons it’s important to report both cyber attempts and actual attacks. For one, by contacting your financial institution immediately, you may be able to recover losses incurred as a result of the fraudulent activity.

Also, hiding fraud helps fraudsters get away with their scams. The more RBC knows about current fraudulent activity, the better prepared we can be to fight against it and ensure we have the best safeguards in place to protect you. By contacting the police, you can help them investigate the fraud in order to catch the culprits behind the scams.

Your Role

Cyber security is everyone’s business, and you share the responsibility to protect your information. And while RBC is committed to keeping your financial information safe and secure, there are simple steps you can take to proactively protect yourself, from creating strong passwords to avoiding public WiFi to do your banking.

Mostly C/D – Way to go! You’re already super cyber savvy.

Way to go! You’re already super cyber savvy. Keep in mind that as technology advances, so do the skills, tricks and tactics used by cyber criminals. Staying up-to-date about common cyber scams, and knowing how to protect yourself, will be key to keeping yourself and your information safe now and in the future.

Read below or visit our Cyber Security page for more tips on how to protect yourself online.

Phishing

A phishing scam is designed to try and trick you into opening attachments, clicking links or entering confidential data, such as your bank account number, password, username or other top-secret login details. Scams can present themselves in many forms, which is why it’s important to be wary of any text or email from a questionable source.

Keep in mind, your financial institution will never ask you to provide account information or passwords over text or email – if you’re asked for these details, delete the email!

Passwords

Any email you receive that asks you to act urgently, and contains a link to help you take immediate action, is likely from a fraudulent source. If in doubt about the status of your account, enter the website address you normally use to log in, and make changes from there. Never follow an email link to enter personal and confidential information.

Password theft is one of the most common ways cyber criminals access your personal information online. That’s why your passwords should be long, complex, and difficult to guess. If you’ve got the word “password” or the digits “1234″ in your password repertoire, you may as well be personally opening the door for hackers to browse through your information.

Using a password phrase, rather than just a word, is a great place to start. To make the password even harder to crack, misspell words, add spaces, and include punctuation, special characters and/or numbers.

Ransomware

If you have been targeted in a cyber attack, the most important thing is to get help as soon as possible. Many incidents go unreported because victims are embarrassed or unsure about what to do next. Rather than trying to solve the problem on your own, ask your resident IT professional for help. When in doubt, disconnect your computer from the network to keep the ransomware from spreading!

Keep in mind, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to regularly back up your data – and to have back ups off-site. That way if you are victim of a ransomware attack, you won’t lose anything!

Software Updates

It’s so easy to click “Not Now” or “Remind Me Later” in response to a software update, but keeping your operating system and third-party apps up-to-date is in fact one of the most critical actions you can do to keep all your devices – and yourself – safe!

Updating and revising software allows your device to plug security holes that have been discovered, as well as fix or remove computer bugs. Plus, updates can add new features to your devices and remove outdated ones.

Wi-Fi

While many hotels, coffee shops and restaurants conveniently offer public Wi-Fi, it’s easy for a hacker to snoop on all the data you send online — including usernames and passwords — while connected to that public network. WiFi Eavesdropping, as it’s called, is one of the most common fraud tactics. Fortunately, protecting yourself isn’t difficult. The trick is to be aware of where and how you’re vulnerable.

A VPN service is a program that channels all your internet traffic through a secure provider outside of the public Wi-Fi hotspot. This means that all the websites you visit — or emails you send — will funnel through an encrypted and very secure system. Choosing a paid, reputable VPN service is critical, as there are some fake, free VPN apps out there that could do more harm than good.

Reporting Cyber Fraud

Did you know that nearly nine in 10 victims of fraud do not report the incident or talk about it with anyone?

There are several reasons it’s important to report both cyber attempts and actual attacks. For one, by contacting your financial institution immediately, you may be able to recover losses incurred as a result of the fraudulent activity.

Also, hiding fraud helps fraudsters get away with their scams. The more RBC knows about current fraudulent activity, the better prepared we can be to fight against it and ensure we have the best safeguards in place to protect you. By contacting the police, you can help them investigate the fraud in order to catch the culprits behind the scams.

Your Role

Cyber security is everyone’s business, and you share the responsibility to protect your information. And while RBC is committed to keeping your financial information safe and secure, there are simple steps you can take to proactively protect yourself, from creating strong passwords to avoiding public WiFi to do your banking.

This article is intended as general information only and is not to be relied upon as constituting legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. Information presented is believed to be factual and up-to-date but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Royal Bank of Canada or any of its affiliates.

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