At Callan Capital, we are committed to cybersecurity awareness, education, and training. We hope the following is helpful for you, your family, and your friends as a resource for cybercrime prevention, knowledge, and mitigation. This is part of a monthly cyber awareness series aimed at helping our clients avoid cybercrime.
Smart Speakers
Smart speakers pose security threats in terms of hacking, eavesdropping, and privacy. Did you change your default privacy and security settings? Recordings can be used for advertising or AI purposes by the company unless you limit usage. Recordings are stored on the device but are also on cloud servers and can be accessed by the company. If you work from home, make sure your smart speakers are not plugged in where you work to avoid accidental recordings since smart speakers are always “on.” Alternatively, mute the microphone. Smart speakers can control many “smart” parts of your home (home security, your fridge, data over the internet, your front door). Criminals use IoT search engines (the internet of things) to find the default username and passwords of devices on your home network. Make sure you are not using default usernames and passwords and create a unique password and username for each smart device. Delete your command history to erase local and cloud storage of past recordings. Deactivate personalized features such as access to your calendar and contacts. Enable two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing your device. Opt out of data sharing and consider having different networks for your IoT devices and keep these separate from the home Wi-Fi you use for your personal devices.
Smart Cars
1. Maintain property and casualty coverage separate from what your smart car manufacturer offers.
2. What is the financial strength of your insurer?
3. Understand the auto maker’s product liability and your driver’s liability.
4. What are your liability limits?
5. Does your umbrella or excess liability policy sit over your smart car policy?
Smart cars are computers that pose risks. A 19-year-old IT security specialist made headlines when he hacked into Tesla cars by unlocking doors and windows, starting cars without keys, disabling the vehicle’s entire security system, turning on the stereo, flashing headlights, and could see if the vehicle had a driver in it. The vulnerabilities stem from third-party software flaws. Fortunately, he could not drive the cars or execute code on the cars. All of this begs the question of who is legally responsible. Is it the manufacturer, insurer, owner, or all three? Review your property and casualty insurance and umbrella policy to understand your coverage and gaps.
Disclaimer: Callan Capital does not provide individual tax or legal advice, nor does it provide financing services. Clients should review planned financial transactions and wealth transfer strategies with their own tax and legal advisors. Callan Capital outsources to lending and financial institutions that directly provide our clients with securities-based financing, residential and commercial financing and cash management services. For more information, please refer to our most recent Form ADV Part 2A which may be found at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.