TULSA, Okla. — Kelly Smakal Munn enjoys her cycling rides. What she doesn't enjoy is being a victim of cybercrime — and she's been hit more than once.
"It was ransomware. It was extremely difficult. Our whole business shut down for like a week while we had to address it," Smakal Munn said.
She has also faced the confusion that follows a data breach notification.
"I received an email from some place that said that their information had been breached to get a free credit report monitor, but it's very confusing and difficult to understand what I'm supposed to do — and I feel like clicking on this information, but is that just another scam?" Smakal Munn said.
Her uncertainty reflects a troubling national trend. A study by the National Cybersecurity Alliance finds that about a third of everyday people now believe cybercrime is unavoidable — and because of that, they are taking fewer precautions to protect themselves online.
"It does seem that people are either fatigued or frustrated or finding difficulty, maintaining those behaviors as time goes on," Cliff Steinhauer, of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, said.
But cybersecurity experts told 2 News that effective precautions are not complicated. Steinhauer points to what the National Cybersecurity Alliance calls the "Core Four" — four basic practices that can significantly reduce your risk:
- Use strong, unique passwords for every account
- Enable multi-factor authentication
- Keep your software updated
- Recognize and avoid phishing attacks and scams
Of the four, avoiding phishing scams is considered the most difficult. Scammers increasingly use social engineering — highly personalized tactics targeting specific individuals. The attacks are designed to manipulate people into handing over sensitive information.
"It's basically where we're tricking humans into giving up information or access for the bad guys to gain access to somewhere they shouldn't be, either in person or online. So that can look like text messaging, emails, phone calls," Steinhauer said.
Beyond the Core Four, Steinhauer strongly recommends freezing your credit — a free and powerful tool that can stop criminals from using your personal information to open accounts in your name, even after a breach has already occurred.
"If you assume that your data has been or will be compromised, and then act accordingly, there are things that you may do a little bit differently he said. "One of the things that I do, and I tell others to do, is to freeze your credit."
In the United States, three or four major credit reporting bureaus collect data about consumers' financial habits. If criminals obtain your personally identifiable information through a breach, they can use it to open financial accounts, take out loans or mortgages, or steal your identity for other financial crimes. A credit freeze blocks that access entirely.
"So if you freeze your credit reports, which is free to do — then they can't use that information to open accounts in your name," Steinhauer said.
For Smakal Munn, the experience has been a wake-up call.
"I need to change all my passwords," Smakal Munn said.
Freezing her credit is now on her list, too.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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