Although the internet is an amazing technological innovation that helps us to stay in touch with family and friends, be more productive at work, and find seemingly endless forms of new information and entertainment, cybercrime is also an unfortunate reality of life online. One of the most pernicious—and sadly, increasing—forms of cybercrime is known as phishing.
Below, we explain what phishing is and how to guard against it. With some common sense, a careful eye, and a few simple precautions, you can avoid falling victim to phishing attacks and stay safe while using FPUAnet Communications’ high-speed fiber internet.
Phishing and Its Targets
At its core, phishing manipulates and tricks individuals and organizations into revealing sensitive information like their usernames, passwords, financial data, and personal identification details. These attacks are typically carried out via emails, text messages, or fake websites that impersonate legitimate entities—and those clever, albeit nasty, impersonation attempts can be devastatingly effective.
Phishing attacks also attempt to lure you into a false sense of security before you momentarily let your guard down. Seemingly innocuous text or email messages disguised as communications from authentic businesses or even governmental agencies can con even the most internet-savvy among us. And unfortunately, unsuspecting senior citizens are often phishing scammers’ prime targets.
Although phishing scams have evolved in sophistication, there are still several key strategies and precautions you can take to protect yourself. Here are several tips and practices for staying safe and arming yourself against phishing attacks.
1. Be Skeptical of Unsolicited Messages
The most frequent phishing attempts are initiated through unsolicited emails and text messages. These messages often contain a sense of urgency or threaten negative consequences if you don’t act quickly. Whether it’s a problem with your bank account, a missed delivery, or a security alert from a trusted service, you’re typically prompted to respond or act (usually by clicking on a link and following its instructions) immediately.
Cybersecurity experts implore online users never to trust unsolicited communications, especially when they involve asking for personal information or money. Legitimate companies will never request sensitive details like your password, Social Security Number, or credit card information through email or text.
Thus, if you receive a suspicious message, don’t click on any links or download attachments, and avoid responding to the message in any way. Instead, go directly to the official website of the business, institution, or organization, or call their customer service number to verify the message’s legitimacy.
2. Examine the Email Address and URL Closely
By now, you may be asking yourself: “But how do I know if an email message is suspicious before I even open it?” This is an excellent question, and thankfully, you can often find clues or signs of a phishing attempt without opening the message or clicking any links.
Phishing emails often come from addresses that look suspicious (sometimes nonsensical) or slightly altered to mimic real ones (with characters or symbols that don’t really belong there). For example, an email that appears to come from your bank may have a sender address that looks remarkably like the legitimate address but is slightly off from the official one. Check the email address carefully, looking out for subtle spelling errors or extra characters like a dash or a symbol that could indicate a fake sender.
If you happen to read the message, you can still take steps to protect yourself before clicking any further. Hovering your mouse over any links in the body of the message (without clicking) will reveal the actual URL of any website you’re urged to click. Be cautious of any links that don’t exactly match the official website address.
3. Note the Message’s Greeting
Be wary of messages that don’t include your name or use generic greetings like “Dear Customer” or “Dear User.” This is a tell-tale sign that something is off. Recipients should treat the message with grave suspicion and act cautiously.
Remember that businesses you trust, like your bank, will usually address you by your proper name in their official correspondence with you. So, even noting the greeting in a message can help you glean whether the message you’ve received is a phishing attempt or not.
4. Check if the Message Contains Spelling and Grammar Mistakes
Similarly, be on the lookout for whether the message is polished or sloppy. Professional emails from legitimate companies are typically well-written, with proper grammar and spelling throughout the text.
If the email you receive contains strange formatting, misspellings, awkward phrasing, or other errors, it's a strong indicator of a phishing attempt. Again, most scammers are casting a wide net and don’t take the time to draft a perfect letter—and that sloppiness can help save you from being phished!
5. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
One of the most effective ways to add an extra layer of protection against phishing is to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on your accounts. MFA requires more than just your password to log in—it often involves an additional step, such as a code sent to your phone or a fingerprint scan.
Even if a hacker manages to steal your password through a phishing scam, MFA provides an additional barrier that makes it much harder for them to gain access to your accounts. Most major online services, including email providers, banks, and social media platforms, offer MFA as an option—make sure to turn it on for all your critical accounts.
6. Verify Requests for Sensitive Information
Finally, if you receive a message that asks for personal or financial information, always verify the request through a secondary channel. For example, if you get an email from your bank asking you to update your account details, call the customer service number on the bank’s official website—not the one in the email or text message—to confirm the request.
Typically, legitimate companies won’t ask you to verify sensitive information over email or text. If in doubt, always contact the company directly using a verified phone number or email address.
Phishing attacks are a serious threat, but with proper vigilance, healthy skepticism, and a few smart precautions, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to these scams. Stay aware and always trust your instincts—if something feels off, it probably is. And to learn more ways to keep you and your family safe online, follow FPUAnet Communications’ social pages for additional cybersecurity recommendations.
Like most people in today's digital age, you probably spend a considerable portion of your life online. From daily emailing to online banking, managing finances, and shopping, these basics of everyday life are undoubtedly enhanced by our ever-present internet world. But with so much of our lives intertwined with the web, online security is more important than ever. And sadly, with cyber threats and data breaches on the rise, stepping up our personal cybersecurity is more crucial than ever.
A strong password is your first line of defense against unauthorized access to your accounts. Below are six essential tips for creating a robust password for better online security. By utilizing a strong password, you can stay safer online while enjoying FPUAnet Communications’ high-speed fiber internet for everything from streaming TV and movies to connecting with loved ones through video calling or managing your finances.
1. The Elements of a Strong Password
Many people have been using the same password for a long time—and across many apps and websites! And it’s common to use a word near and dear to one’s heart because it’s easier to remember.
This risky practice is not nearly secure enough to combat today’s sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals. A strong password typically includes a mix of the following characteristics:
Length: Aim for at least 12-16 characters. Longer passwords are generally more secure.
Complexity: Use a diverse combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols (e.g., &, !, @, and #).
Unpredictability: Avoid easily guessable information, such as names, birthdays, or common words.
Check out these examples of a weak (but common) password and a strong password:
Weak: Passcode123 (a shockingly overused word attached to a simple sequence of numbers is just not sufficient in today’s world).
Strong: 6L~3s1yXt#f4Fmz8 (this tangled combo is loaded with randomness, making the password extremely difficult to guess).
2. Avoid Widespread Password Mistakes
In addition to simply using the same password over and over again, many users fall into other common traps that compromise password strength. To dodge these:
Steer Clear of Words Found in the Dictionary: Avoid common words or phrases. Cyber attackers use dictionary attacks, which try every word in the dictionary to crack passwords.
Don’t Use Personal Information: Refrain from using your name, family names, or birth dates, as these are often easy to guess or obtain.
3. Use a Passphrase
If a jumbled set of letters, numbers, and characters is just too much to remember, you can still improve your password by lengthening it. A passphrase is a longer sequence of words or a sentence that’s easy for you to remember but difficult for others to guess.
For instance, instead of a single word, use a phrase like “MyCatMeows@Midnight?”
While seemingly silly, such a passphrase is more complex—and harder for hackers to guess or obtain—than using your cat’s name alone. And it’s also easy for you to remember.
4. Utilize Password Managers
If you don’t have the time to create a proper password and want to be sure that it contains the right amount of complexity, consider using a password manager. A password manager can help you create—and store—strong passwords securely. These tools can generate random passwords that meet security criteria and save you from having to remember every password.
When selecting a password manager, make sure that it utilizes strong encryption to protect your stored passwords. Many password managers will sync across all your devices, including cell phones and tablets, but double-check before choosing one.
With TechShield you will receive a convenient password manager along with mobile security and 50 GB of storage for photos and documents all for $7.99 per month.
5. Keep Your Passwords Updated
It’s not enough just to make your passwords more secure—you need to keep them updated, too. Ideally, you should change your passwords periodically, with some experts recommending changing them about every three to six months. This is particularly wise for sensitive accounts like email and online banking or credit cards but should also be considered for your most commonly used apps and social media.
If a company, service, or app you use experiences a breach, you must change your password immediately, no matter how recently you last updated it.Additionally, if you notice any unusual activity in your accounts, change your password to give yourself peace of mind.
6. Avoid Reusing Passwords
Our last tip relates to an all-too-common pitfall: using the same password repeatedly for apps and website logins. Reusing passwords across multiple sites increases your vulnerability. Indeed, if just one account is compromised, attackers can access your other accounts that share the same password.
Password managers can ease the creation and storage of unique passwords for each of your accounts. Alternatively, you can create variations of a strong base password just by adding a suffix or prefix related to each account.
Creating a strong password is a vital step in securing your online accounts. By following these six tips, you can significantly enhance your password and your overall online security. And to learn more ways to stay safe online, check out FPUAnet Communications’ social pages for additional cybersecurity advice!
Just about any of our customers who have already made the switch from older forms of internet (like cable) to fiber broadband will tell you that fiber’s advanced technology is vastly superior to anything else they’ve used.
From downloading files at near-lightspeed, to voluminous amounts of available bandwidth for handling multiple applications simultaneously, to more reliable material components that provide pristine streaming TV and movie experiences, fiber is simply heads-and-shoulders above cable, DSL, and satellite internet.
But those are just technical specs—and that doesn’t tell even half the story! Fiber internet, like the kind delivered by FPUAnet Communications, can genuinely enhance your quality of life in a myriad of ways, including the following eight use cases we’re proud to support in Fort Pierce.
1. Telehealth Expedites Critical Health Interventions
We begin with everyone’s top priority—keeping their family healthy. And the internet now plays a significant role in delivering healthcare to millions. Telehealth, which allows physicians and other medical professionals to provide initial consultations (and other healthcare) from a patient’s home, has expanded massively in recent years.
Telehealth helps doctors and patients assess when more urgent in-person care is needed (and when it’s not). Prescriptions can get filled faster with telehealth, and consultations over the internet can even assist in properly applying first aid to injuries.
Telehealth consultations can be performed quickly and reliably thanks to fiber’s bounty of bandwidth, which lets audio and video data transfer between doctor and patient seamlessly. Many doctors won’t make a diagnosis when a poor internet connection causes choppy video calls, but that’s not a problem when the patient has fiber!
2. Remote Work Improves Convenience and Productivity
While remote work isn’t for everyone, it can be life-changing for caregivers who need a little more flexibility. Plus, while avoiding the hassles of commutes and traffic delays, remote workers also save money on gasoline and reduce their carbon footprint.
While many workers and employers decide to go fully remote, even partial remote work flexibility can be a blessing. But it takes a particularly robust internet connection to facilitate remote work (especially video conferencing), which isn’t always supported by inferior connections like satellite.
Fiber's symmetrical downloads and uploads let workers send and receive large files and transmit data during long meetings and conferences, making a remote staff member genuinely feel part of the team!
3. Distance Education Allows Students to Gain Skills and Get Ahead
Access to higher education is more attainable than ever, thanks to the multitude of online distance learning opportunities available through colleges and universities around the country.
From undergraduate and graduate degrees to technical certifications, the internet puts education within reach for many who thought it was impossible or beyond their means while helping them achieve the skills necessary to meet their career goals.
Fiber internet’s enormous bandwidth facilitates reliable distance learning and even genuine classroom experiences. It allows students and professors to share large files like presentations or lectures in real-time and enables video conferencing to foster learning and growth, including one-on-one student-faculty interactions—all without sweating frequent distortions or outages that frustrate students on older internet technologies.
4. Lifelong Learning Keeps the Mind Active and Engaged
Beyond bringing official degree and certificate programs to students, fiber internet also facilitates a less formal but still highly valued form of education: lifelong learning. Lifelong learning provides opportunities for the curious to understand their world—and even the universe—well after college ends.
Several companies and major universities, such as Wondrium (formerly The Great Courses), edX, Harvard, and Yale have developed extensive online course offerings. You can find classes from prestigious professors spanning topics like ancient Greek history, Renaissance art, classical music, modern astronomy, and more.
And many courses are available free of charge! Through fiber’s near-lightspeed downloading, these courses can be streamed and enjoyed right from your home.
5. Virtual Reality Lets You Explore the World from Home
Fiber’s hefty bandwidth and vigorous download speeds also brings the wonder of Virtual Reality to your home—and with it, the travel experiences many have only dreamed about! Unlike traditional forms of entertainment, VR’s wonderous technology envelopes a user in multiple dimensions of visual and sound effects.
VR—through fiber internet—makes viewers literally feel like they’re wherever VR is showing them, whether it’s a tour of the Grand Canyon or an Amazon rainforest, an astronaut’s view from outer space, or a sonorous symphony hall.
Fiber’s speed and bandwidth combined with VR technology allows you to explore Paris’ Louvre Museum one day, and the Colosseum in Rome the next without ever leaving your living room!
6. Smart Homes Save Energy, Time, and Money
Fiber internet and its spectacular speeds and enormous bandwidth capacities make it possible to power a genuine smart home—a place brimming with tech and devices to cut energy usage and costs and make life better and more efficient.
From smart refrigerators that let you know when it’s time to get a new gallon of milk, to smart lighting that cuts off when you leave home, to smart speakers playing music (or soundscapes) throughout every room, smart home technology can turn your dwelling into the home of your dreams.
Remember that fiber can keep these devices and smart home features running smoothly, while still letting you stream TV and movies, upload videos, and enjoy everything else about your internet. Unlike other forms of internet, with fiber, you’re not forced to choose which online activity to sacrifice at any given time!
7. Smart Home Security Makes for Safer Homes and Neighborhoods
One smart home feature everyone should take advantage of is improved real-time safety and security delivered by smart lighting, smart cameras, smart doorbells, and related tech. Fiber-powered devices can monitor your home for security threats at all times, whether you’re tucked in your own bed upstairs or thousands of miles away on vacation.
Additionally, outdoor smart lighting and doorbell systems help make your neighborhood safer too, deterring “porch pirates” and other crime. Fiber has the power to keep these crucial smart home safety and security systems running strong while still allowing you to stay productive and engaged in other online activities simultaneously.
8. Video Calling Keeps You Connected Face-to-Face
Lastly, fiber’s impressive speeds and incredible bandwidth make video calling crystal clear and convenient. Grandparents can easily have face-to-face conversations with their grandchildren, and both sides of the call can see faces as well as hear voices.
Video calling is simply a much more intimate way to stay in touch than by phoning or emailing. Fiber enables this improved communication without the distortions and interruptions that plague other types of internet.
The eight examples above are just a small sample of the way fiber internet’s innovative technology enhances your life. From practical matters like health, work, and security, to broadening your worldview and sharing knowledge and world cultures, fiber can improve your well-being, inspire your mind, and uplift you.
To learn additional ways that FPUAnet Communications' fiber can make a real difference in your life, follow our social pages!
