This week’s episode of THE FINANCIAL COMMUTE features a special session recorded live from Morton Wealth’s 2024 Investor Symposium. Executive Vice President Eric Selter invites Carmine Cicalese, Senior Partner at Digital Privacy & Protection, LLC, to discuss protecting oneself from cybersecurity threats.

Here are some key takeaways from their conversation:

• More than half of U.S. citizens have experienced cybercrime, with identity theft occurring every 22 seconds.
• Fraudsters typically use phishing (email), smishing (text), and vishing (voice) to manipulate victims, often using AI to clone voices for scams.
• If money is stolen from an online bank or investment account, recovery is unlikely due to liability agreements customers sign.
• Best practices for protecting yourself include using a VPN, a password manager, a private email (not a free email platform like Gmail or Outlook) for sensitive matters, multi-factor authentication, ensuring your passwords are strong and unique (20+ characters), changing default passwords on smart home devices, and refraining from posting too much about your personal life on social media.
• It's crucial to remember that if a platform is free, you are the product. They are probably selling your data, and it is important to practice caution when communicating personal info across these free platforms.
• The best protection is a healthy dose of skepticism. If something feels suspicious, don’t engage.