European Data Protection Day, we tell you how to protect yours

Did you know that…

• the theft of personal data on the internet is skyrocketing in Spain: one victim every two minutes according to data from the Technical Unit of the Civil Guard’s Judicial Police specialized in cybercrime?
• Spain is the third country in the world with the most cyberattacks, as reported by the Cybersecurity Report from InfoJobs?
• this same report also reveals that 44% of companies have been victims of a cyberattack this past year, and only 17% of employees were aware of having suffered one?
• nearly 40,000 cybersecurity incidents occur every day according to INCIBE, and SMEs receive 70% of the attacks in Spain as they are more vulnerable due to lacking good digital infrastructures?
• cyberattacks on SMEs, as noted by the College of Economists of Valencia, result in an average cost of 75,000 euros?

Data protection has become essential since data is now the new target of cyberattacks—something that is not surprising when we consider that Spain currently has 87.5 million payment cards, reaching historical highs (more cards than inhabitants), and 54.1% of the population already prefers paying by card.

These card data are highly coveted, and cybercrime has two objectives with them:

1. One is direct exploitation to purchase products and make money transfers.
2. The second, now the most common, is selling them to other criminals.

There are different types of cyberattacks that it is very important to raise awareness about to reduce their current success rate. Among them, the most notable are:

• Smishing consists of sending fake SMS messages to our mobile, pretending to be our bank with the goal of stealing private information or making a fraudulent charge.
• Phishing, whose most common format is through emails in which identity is spoofed.

1. Always check the URL: Be careful! The text displayed initially may not match the website you are redirected to when clicking the link.
2. Download apps only from official sites.
3. Keep your device secure. Keep updates up to date.
4. Watch the writing: Fraudulent pages or messages are often created abroad, so their texts are frequently prepared with online automatic translators that contain grammatical and spelling errors that are easy to spot.
5. If an offer or discount seems too good… be suspicious and investigate the company offering it to verify it.
6. Never give your PIN: In regular online purchases, you are never asked for your PIN.
7. Use secure payment gateways such as PayPal or make purchases through online stores that comply with the PCI DSS security standard.

And most importantly, remember: at the slightest doubt, don’t take risks and protect your data.