Page 21 - Telecom Reseller September-October 2016

SJOUWERMAN
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day, and as criminals experiment with these technologies, we will continue to see smishing and vishing scams adapt as well.
AVOIDANCE TECHNIQUES
TO LIVE BY
Because cellphone users are subject to smishing, mobile carriers must continually adapt their defenses to lter suspicious SMS texts, much
like Internet service providers lter spam email. ere’s currently little recourse against many vishing scams, which may involve a single caller or an entire call center. Common sense is a general best practice and should be an individual’s rst line of defense against online or phone fraud. Unfortunately, this is not always simple or obvious. erefore, awareness training is a necessary line
of defense against all online privacy and security threats.
Basic safety tips and best practices include the following:
● Trust no one: Even if you think a call or text originated from a legitimate institution, question the credibility of the source.
● Know your numbers: Call only trusted numbers, like those printed on billing statements or posted on o cial sites.
● Hang up on uninformed callers: Any caller representing a legitimate organization should know their customers and who they’re calling, so hang up if asked for private or sensitive information.
● Ignore and ag suspicious texts: A legitimate organization enforces policies against alerting or communicating with customers via text messages.
● Watch out for bogus pop-ups: At a real
site, a fake pop-up window may request sensitive information and appear to be part of the legitimate site. Use pop-up blockers to stop pop-ups from appearing in the rst place.
● Reveal nothing, conceal everything: Provide no useful information to random callers. In fact, be cautious about revealing personal information to any caller. If you’re asked for private or con dential information, insist on calling the company back using a number you know is legitimate.
● Verify and validate: If you receive an alert about account abuse or suspension, call the company directly and inquire about your account. Never use any contact number provided in an alert and always look up actual service numbers from bills or authentic websites.
As with any other online threat, with the various types of phishing, exercise good judgment. When it comes to fraud, you can never be too untrusting. Exercising too much trust is a weakness that creates victims out of just about anyone. ■
Viking Electronics Introduces the K-1900- 8-IP, a Heavy Duty VoIP Panel Phone
HUDSON, WI - Viking Electronics Inc. introduces the newest member of its growing VoIP family – the K-1900-8-IP Panel Phone. This heavy-duty stainless steel panel phone is ideal for applications that need reliable VoIP communication where vandalism can be a problem.
“Our customers were asking for a durable phone that would work with VoIP. It was an easy decision to develop an IP version of our popular heavy duty stainless steel panel phone.” explains Bill Heideman, President of Viking Electronics, Inc. The K-1900-8-IP panel phone, shown in an optional VE-5x10 surface mount box, can either auto-dial a phone number each
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