the Department of Homeland Security recently had a valuable post regarding best practices related to staying protected in our increasingly connected mode of living.

In his October, 2015 blog, Andy Ozment, Assistant Secretary, Cybersecurity and Communications observed that most of us have developed a very close relationship with our mobile devices: we carry them with us throughout the day, check them frequently, and even sleep with them nearby at night. Although mobile devices allow us to instantly connect with friends and family, to access the internet, get directions, and make purchases, this increased convenience also comes at an increased risk. Many of these online activities require us to provide personal information such as our name, email address, account number, and credit card information. This puts us at an increased risk of having this information compromised by cyber criminals.

In his role as Assistant Secretary, Cybersecurity and Communications at The Department of Homeland Security he urged all Americans to follow these simple steps to ensure the security of their personal information online:

• Keep your private information private. Avoid sharing your full name, address, and other personal information online. Frequently check a website’s privacy options to ensure you have enabled the highest level of privacy as options may get updated or changed completely.
• When in doubt, throw it out. Links in emails, tweets, posts, and online advertisements are often how cybercriminals compromise your computer or mobile device. If it looks suspicious, it’s best to delete it, even if you know the source. If appropriate, mark the message as “junk email” so that future messages from the sender do not end up in your inbox.
• Set strong passwords. Setting passwords that are long, unique, and hard to guess is one of the most important things you can do to protect your online accounts. Changing passwords regularly and using different passwords for different accounts goes a long way to protecting your online information.
• Secure your accounts. Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many websites now offer additional ways for you verify your identity are before you conduct business on their sites, such as two-factor authentication.
• Secure your mobile device. In order to prevent theft and unauthorized access, use a passcode to lock your mobile device and always lock it when it’s not in use. Never leave your mobile device unattended in a public place.

For more on identity theft best practices please visit www.hvshred.com

HV Shred President Judith Papo had the pleasure and privilege to introduce Coach Levy at the annual Banker, Attorney, CPA Networking Event

This past Wednesday evening the NYS Society of CPAs hosted nearly 200 professionals as one and all enjoyed an evening of networking, good food, and a fantastic presentation by the one and only Coach Marv Levy.  Coach Levy’s program shared insights not only from his years as one of the most successful NFL coaches ever–taking his Buffalo Bills to an unprecedented and never duplicated four straight Super Bowls,  but also from his time in service during World War II.

His pillars of success are “PR”–Preparation and Resilience; and he vetted his team members and coaches for those characteristics.  Everything else flows from preparation and resilience.

Again, we thank our sponsors:  Gold Sponsors TD Bank and Orange County Trust; Silver Sponsors HVFCU, Lakeland Bank, Salisbury Bank, and Walden Savings; and our Bronze Sponsors: HV Shred, Catskill Hudson Bank, Empire State Bank, Jeff Bank, and Tompkins Mahopac Bank.

We look forward to continuing to improve and grow the event in 2016 so please feel free to check in with your feedback.  You can contact Judith at judith@hvshred.com

HV Shred truly enjoys being a part of community events–to learn more about our community involvement as well as invite us to join your community event please visit www.hvshred.com

A strong turnout helped make our 3rd Annual Rotary Event a success!

Thanks to all who came out in support of our 3rd Annual Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Shred Event.  With strong support from Rotarians throughout the area and a generous public we helped raise over $1500!  Along the way, we also helped save approximately 40 trees and 6 cubic yards of landfill.

Special thanks to our fundraising chair Joe Pedota (and his daughter), Jim Brown our treasurer collecting the donations, Tom McCormack and his grandson, Elliot Sussin, David Schmidt, and the others I am shamefully forgetting to name.  It was a strong group effort.

Thanks also to our hosts from Bridgeway Federal Credit Union namely President and CEO Michelle McCourt and branch manager Jenny Fox.  LaGrange Pharmacy helped us raise additional monies with some fun gift baskets to raffle off.  Definitely stop by the store at 1520 Route 55 in LaGrangeville to check out the fun stuff they have in their totally remodeled HallMark store inside the pharmacy.

LaGrange Pharmacy helped raise money by donating HallMark gift baskets

Keep your eyes peeled for our 4th annual event in 2016!

As we embark on a new school year, we’d like to “school” our blog community with some tips for how to tell one shredding service apart from another.

We encourage all businesses and individuals wherever they are and how small or large the service to THINK LOCAL FIRST.

Local businesses like HV Shred are more likely to be invested in the local community. At HV Shred, our owners are involved with the day to day business–we take the service personally–and we feel service in the community is a premium. That’s why our president Judith Papo is a Rotarian, an active member of the Mid Hudson Chapter CPA Society, as well as active in the local chambers.

In addition, HV Shred focuses on keeping the service simple and straightforward. No hassles with sorting of folders–we even shred hard cover books and spiral notebooks.

Newly added is our hard drive shredder. We can now shred hard drives in seconds right on sight! Electronics recycling is part of our offerings as well.

We are the total data security solution for local businesses.

And everything we shred gets recycled–our clients helped us save over 2000 trees in August alone!

Please visit our newly updated website for more information www.hvshred.com

Continuing with our theme of best practices for identity theft protection and building on last week’s post of strong passwords, this week we highlight those security questions. This post too is adapted from a recent post on OnGuard On Line by Whitney Merrill Legal Fellow, Division of Privacy and Identity Theft Protection, FTC.

If you forget your password or sometimes just as additional security, many companies require you to answer security questions to regain access. Here are some tips to make sure an attacker can’t use your security questions as a way to get into your account:

• Select security questions where only you know the answer. Many security questions ask for answers to information available in public records or online, like your zip code, mother’s maiden name, birth place. That is information a motivated attacker can obtain.
• Don’t use answers to security questions that can be guessed. An attacker can guess the answer to a security question that has a limited number of responses (dates, colors, states, countries). Avoid questions like “What state were you born in?” or “What color was your first car?” which allow an attacker to guess all possible answers.
• Don’t give a generic answer to a security question. Find an answer to a security question that you will remember but is also more complicated than a generic word. For example, if the security question asks “What is your favorite childhood memory?” the answer “watching the Dodgers with my mom” is more secure than “baseball.”

For more on best practices when it comes to identity theft protection, please visit www.hvshred.com

Best practices for identity theft protection is a theme of our HV Shred Blog. A recent post on On-Guard On-Line by Whitney Merrill Legal Fellow, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, FTC is a good refresher when it comes to password common sense.

When the time comes to create another password, be sure it a secure one. A little extra attention when you create a strong password can prevent an attacker from getting access to your account.

Your password should be long, complex, and unique. Here are additional steps you can take to help create strong passwords and secure your accounts:

• Avoid common words, phrases, or information. Don’t use information available to others like your birthday, phone number, or Social Security number. Attackers often use a dictionary of previously exposed passwords and information gathered from the internet to help them guess a password.
• Change passwords quickly if there is a breach. Attackers who steal data from companies often obtain password information. If you receive a notification from a company about a possible breach, change that password and any account that uses a similar password immediately.
• Consider a password manager. Most people have trouble keeping track of all their passwords. Consider storing your passwords and security questions in a password manager, an easy-to-access application that allows you store all your valuable password information in one place. Use a strong password to secure the information in your password manager.

For more on best practices for identity theft protection, please visit www.hvshred.com