Security

You may have already encountered fake phone calls or fake emails from cyber criminals for example pretending to be your internet company.

We don’t want you to be tricked by anyone contacting you and pretending to be from Wesleyan Bank.

Security

We want you to be as safe as possible while using our services and we have security measures in place to protect your data on our systems.

Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your devices:

 

  1. Use up to date software

You should consider using modern products which are automatically kept updated.

As a rule of thumb, the older software is, the less secure it is.

Good software suppliers know this and will provide automatic updates to fix security problems as they are discovered.

Web browser

Operating system

Automatic updates

 

  1. Anti-Malware

Malicious Software – “Malware”

“Computer virus”, “ransomware”, “keyloggers”, “trojans”, “wipers” - these are examples of malware which can do harm to your systems and information. There are a wide variety of products from established suppliers, some free and some already built in (Windows Defender). You should consider installing a reputable anti-malware product and using it in line with the supplier’s guidelines.

  1. Logins and passwords

Your login details are what tell a system who is using the systems and what they are allowed to do. You should keep login details safely stored and not share them. The number of logins and passwords each of us has to remember seems to forever grow, password management software can help with this problem.

 

Find out more

To find out more about how to keep yourself, your information and your devices secure have a look at these:

https://www.cyberaware.gov.uk/

https://www.getsafeonline.org/

https://securitycheckli.st/

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/

 

Web browser

Modern browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari Browsers are continually being updated to fix security problems as they are found.

Chrome is the free Web Browser from Google. You can install it on PC/Laptop, on Tablets and smartphones. Once it is installed it can automatically download and install updates to itself to fix security problems that are discovered. Updates will often introduce new features and improve performance as well as improve security.

The Firefox web browser from Mozilla is free to download and use. Like Chrome there is a version for PC/laptop, tablets and smartphones. Firefox can also download updates automatically for security and performance improvements.

The Safari browser from Apple only works on Apple equipment – iPhone, iPad, MAC. Your iPhone or iPad can be set to update automatically with security and performance improvements.

Microsoft’s browser is Edge and is pre-installed on later versions of Windows (Windows 8.1, 10). It replaces their older Internet Explorer (IE). Microsoft have released many versions of IE and all versions other than the current one – IE 11 – are not considered Secure.

 

Operating systems

Microsoft Windows is probably the most widely known desktop/laptop operating system. Others are Android and IOS for smartphones and tablets, MacOS for older Apple Mac computers and Linux. As software companies bring out new versions of their products they stop fixing problems with older versions.

Taking Microsoft as an example:

  • Windows XP, Windows Vista are not longer provided with security updates
  • Windows 7 will also stop receiving security fixes in January 2020
  • Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10 can be set to automatically install security updates

If you are using an old unsupported version then your security maybe at risk.

Other common operating systems e.g. Android and IOS for smartphones and tablets, MacOs and Linux – also have old versions which no longer receive security updates and are now insecure.

 

Automatic updates

All computer programs (browsers and operating systems included) contain some mistakes - ‘bugs’. Some of these can be used to break or bypass the security of the computer, tablet or smartphone. As these problems come to light the program writers provide security updates to fix the problems.

Search at the software suppliers guidance on how to ensure that automatic updates are turned on to keep it up to date with security fixes. Sometimes updates aren’t always automatically applied so it is always good to know where to check for updates.