Protect sensitive electronics
All of our devices contain sensitive electronics. If there’s a power surge, they can be damaged beyond repair. You might plug your phone, computer and television into a surge-protecting electrical outlet. But that leaves other things, including your appliances, at risk of damage from a surge after a power outage. To protect all the electronics in your house, consider installing a whole-home surge protector on your circuit panel.

Be cyber secure
As tempting as it is to reuse passwords across different platforms, this puts you at greater risk of falling victim to a cyber attack, with wide-reaching consequences even if only one of the sites you use is compromised. Each password you create should use complex phrases, have at least eight characters and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.

When given the option, always sign up for multi-factor authentication, which requires that you confirm your identity by entering a temporary, unique passcode that’s sent to you (e.g., by email or text). This adds another layer of protection if someone steals your login details and attempts to access your accounts.

Watch out for scams
Scammers use all the tricks in the book to try to steal your money, including email, text or social media “phishing” messages. Review the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s website to stay on top of the latest scams and learn how to spot suspicious messages. Check for an email address that doesn’t match the company it claims to be coming from, blurry logos in the email signature or suspicious links or attachments. Always be wary of any messages that include urgent demands or threats and keep an eye out for spelling mistakes. When in doubt, contact the sender another way, like going to their website directly and contacting customer support by phone or chat to confirm the request is real.

Find more information on cyber security at bmo.com/security.

Credit – newscanada