Working online has a plethora of benefits but it also comes with risks. Paul Macpherson from Xero shares some quick tips for how to protect yourself whilst still making use of this valuable tool. ~WizeOwl
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At Xero, the security of our customers and partners is of utmost importance to us, and something we take very seriously. We have a dedicated team of IT security experts on the hunt for any patterns of malicious activity across our systems. Therefore we can notify our users immediately if there are any problems. location of those logins, including IP address. If you don’t recognise the location or date of the last login, please contact customer support: [email protected].
That’s because small businesses are often targeted by cyber criminals trying to steal your account names and passwords. Security industry research shows that over 40% of cyber attacks last year targeted small businesses, and this is increasing.
We we want to provide you with a timely reminder about how to protect yourself and your business online.
What can I do to protect myself?
Updating your anti-malware (anti-virus, anti-spyware) software is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to protect yourself. It’s crucial for Xero users to keep up to date with the latest security patches.
When it comes to passwords, it’s very important to keep your log-in details unique. Never share your password, and keep it different to the other passwords you use for different logins. Having a unique password helps prevent a compromise of one login becoming a compromise of many.
We also strongly recommend our users use two-step authentication (2SA, 2FA or MFA) wherever it’s available for an additional layer of security. Having 2SA enabled significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access to your account. It also better protects you and your business from fraud and damage. To find out more about Xero’s two-step authentication, please review our Help Center.
Use the Xero Dashboard to check your security
You can also use the Xero Dashboard to check when you last logged in, and the
When you click on the link you can see when and where you last logged into Xero – and if that address is somewhere far, far away from where you’ve been recently, that’s a good indication some suspicious activity has taken place.
Security is a constantly-evolving issue for the tech industry. We strongly encourage all Xero users — and technology users in general — to remain vigilant about the online solutions they use. If you have any questions about this area, please check our Security Page. For updates on any known phishing or other scams targeting our community, and for our recommendations on how to protect yourself from them, please check our Security Noticeboard.