So much of our personal and financial lives now live in the digital world, which makes us all susceptible to identity theft. Our next guest says that doing some digital housekeeping and decluttering can help lower those identity risks. Mike Switzer interviews Anne Marie Ashworth, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Greenville, SC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Switzer: Hello and welcome to another edition of the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer. So much of our personal and financial lives now live in the digital world, which makes us all susceptible to identity theft. Our next guest says that doing some digital housekeeping and decluttering can help lower these identity risks. Ann Marie Ashworth is a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group. She joins us by phone now from her office in Greenville, South Carolina. Anne Marie, welcome back to the program.
Ashworth: Thanks for having me.
Switzer: So tell us where we should start with our digital housekeeping.
Ashworth: Well, everyone has a digital footprint and really the housekeeping starts at, at our front door. And what I mean by that is access or our passwords. And a simple housekeeping for everyone digitally is one to stop using the same password for every single login. When you think about it, hackers that can get in, they're going to continue to try and utilize the same password to get into multiple different accesses to your life. Number two, there's nothing wrong with a password book, but if you're not using a password manager online, you're simply keeping all of the passwords the same. You're leaving yourself open to the possibility of someone being able to be logging into you. So it's just an easy way to use a password manager to create an airtight unique password for every account. So things like lastpass, roboform, 1Password, they all have the ability to create unique passwords for all of your login without you having to remember the password. It simply auto fills it for you. And it is a very simple way to keep yourself digitally very secure.
Switzer: Okay, how about browsers that have password managers?
Ashworth: I know Google has one, Apple has one. If you have an Android, they also have one. There's nothing wrong with that at all. You just want to make sure that you're logging out of that login if you're using a public computer or even at home. So if you're using a computer or your cell phone, making sure that you have two factor set up on that and then also when you're not using it to make sure you're logging out and not keeping a song. Ah, sometimes you'll see a remember, this browser or remember this trusted device. You want to be careful where you're clicking that. And what we're seeing now also is passkeys. You'll see a lot of times when you log in, it's do you want to set up a passkey or do you have one? This is simply a digital replacement for a password similar to lastpass or roboform or one pass creating a unique password for you. Except it's by device, so it makes it difficult if someone happens to get this key to be able to log on outside of your normal device. The last thing I'll mention is think about all the apps and websites that you've used that maybe are inactive now. Have you sent your credit card information, your banking information, any other personal information that maybe haven't used it? This is a great way to go in and say, does it make sense for me to delete my account? Cancel forgotten subscriptions, cleaning up bank statements, things that aren't used on your day to day basis. Just making sure that you're being careful and really taking that housekeeping of your digital footprint into consideration.
Switzer: All right, well, let's now move to, probably everybody's topic du jour, and that's AI. What sort of threats are you seeing from AI right now?
Ashworth: Gosh, the technology of artificial intelligence has evolved so fast, I'm sure everyone over the last couple years it's gotten so good that it also means the bad side of artificial intelligence is starting to creep through. Things like online scams are looking so polished. And I read a stat recently that said since 2022, phishing attempts are up 1,200% and most of those we're seeing are generated through artificial intelligence. Always be cautious and skeptical of unexpected contacts. That means things like emails, voicemails, calls, or even texts we're seeing. A lot of times people are able to regenerate, whether it's your bank or the IRS or a local institution where it's not really that individual. So instead of reacting in a rush, take a breath, open up your debit card and call the back of the number or use your two factor app that you have on your phone for your bank or institution and call them. That way. Don't respond to something that may not look consistent.
Switzer: So it sounds like the overall mindset here is that, we need to shift away from this won't happen to me to some healthy skepticism, which would include decluttering your digital world.
Ashworth: Yes. And in a world of artificial intelligence, and we continue to see it grow exponentially, there are easy ways to protect yourself every day, raise awareness of yourself, and strengthening our healthy and digital footprint to make sure that we're staying on top of it. It's always good to have a little healthy skepticism.
Switzer: Well, Ann Marie, great information as always. Thanks for sharing.
Ashworth: Thanks for having me, Mike.
Switzer: Ann Marie Ashworth is a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group. She spoke to us by phone from her office in Greenville, South Carolina. Remember, you can hear this show again at our webpage, SCPublicRadio.org and you can hear us again wherever you find podcasts with the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer.
The views expressed on the South Carolina Business Review do not necessarily reflect those of South Carolina Public Radio.
South Carolina Business Review transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of South Carolina Business Review’s programming.
