Cybersecurity and Cybercrime

Cybercrime involves illegal activities carried out using computers and the Internet. This could include online scams or malware, hacking, auction fraud and similar offences.

Staying informed can help prevent against fraud and keep our community safe.

Keep yourself and your computer protected:

• Use antivirus software: Anti-virus software recognizes and protects your computer against most known viruses and threats. Keep it updated to ensure you stay protected.
• Update software regularly: Enable automatic updates to fix vulnerabilities.
• Be cautious with links and downloads: Avoid opening suspicious email attachments or links.
• Install or activate a firewall: Firewalls can block malicious traffic before it can enter your computer.
• Adjust your browser security settings: Make sure your settings are on Medium or High.
• Use anti-spyware tools: choose legitimate programs to detect and remove spyware.
• Avoid public computers for sensitive tasks: They may contain keyloggers.
• Secure your passwords: Use strong, unique passwords and change them regularly. Remember:
  • The longer your password is, the harder it is to guess
  • Avoid easily researched answers (e.g. names, birthdates, pets, phone numbers)
  • Incorporate numbers, symbols, upper-case letters and punctuation
  • Choose something easy for you to remember but difficult for others to guess.

Businesses can easily become targets with the increasing sophistication of cyber threats. Protect your organization and employees by following these tips:

• Verify requests for sensitive information through a secondary communication channel.
• Train staff to recognize phishing attempts and suspicious emails.
• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) for emails and logins.
• Limit sensitive information shared on public-facing websites and review it regularly.
• Secure your website with HTTPS encryption.
• Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and address potential weaknesses.

Did you know?

• 70 per cent of cybercrime victims never report the incident.
• 45 per cent of those are unsure where to report it.

If you have been the victim of an online crime, make sure you report it.

Did you know?

·         70 per cent of cybercrime victims never report the incident.

·         45 per cent of those are unsure where to report it.

If you have been the victim of an online crime, make sure you report it.

• General online crimes: Call the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234.
• Online financial crimes:
  • Report the crime to the Calgary Police Service and get a case number.
  • Contact your bank or credit card provider.
  • Place fraud alerts with Equifax or Transunion.
  • Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

Email attachments and links are common sources of cybercrime. Be aware of the risks when opening email.

• Avoid opening unknown attachments, especially .exe files.
• Be cautious with Microsoft Office files containing macros.
• Only open compressed/zipped files from trusted sources.
• Do not click on suspicious links.

• Computer viruses: Viruses replicate and can destroy files, corrupt your operating system, and deny service or shut down an entire network.
• Trojan Horses: Disguised programs that harm or steal data.
• Spyware/Adware: Software that secretly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection; users often unwittingly install the product when installing other software.
• Keyloggers: Programs that records keystrokes and user activity, often to steal the user’s personal information.