First National Bank champions Data Privacy Day Jan. 28

First National Bank in Creston and Afton will once again be a champion for Data Privacy Day  — an international effort held annually on Jan. 28 to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust.

That said, today, First National Bank challenges you to check your security and privacy settings on at least one site like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon or Pandora and set them to a comfortable level.

To protect yourself, we also remind you to be wary of any communications sent to you asking for you to act immediately, offers something that sounds too good to be true or asks for personal information.

“Cybercriminals have become quite savvy in their attempts to lure people into giving them personal information over the phone or by baiting them to click on a harmful link on social media or through email,” said Randy Huewe, president at First National Bank. “If you get these types of communications, be cautious and never give out any information until you can confirm the source.”

You can also keep information safe by having the most up-to-date security software, web browser and operating systems. Staying prompt in these updates will give you the best defense against viruses, malware and other online threats.

At First National Bank, we offer a security software called Trusteer that can be downloaded free of charge through our website. This software picks up where conventional security software fails and helps protect and mitigate financial malware infections from getting on your computer.

Data Privacy Day is organized each year by National Cyber Security Alliance and began in the United States in 2008. First National Bank supports the principles of Data Privacy Day, and wants to assure our customers that protecting their personal and financial information remains our top priority.

For more data privacy tips, visit https://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/

First National Bank in Creston and Afton is a full service community bank locally owned that specializes in commercial, ag and personal banking. First National Bank has offices in Creston and Afton with assets of $241 million.