Bringing Security Awareness to Senior Citizens

On November 4, 2021, VENZA’s own Katie Westerfield spent the day at Alpharetta First United Methodist Church teaching a group of seniors how to better protect their data.

A timely presentation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently published a press release in which they said the Internet Crime Compliant Center found that over 100,000 persons over the age of sixty filed a complaint, with a resulting loss of nearly $1 billion.

There were twenty ladies in attendance for Katie’s presentation, and many shared firsthand experiences that give a human face to these statistics. One shared a particularly harrowing story of fraud related to international travel and a legal nightmare that lasted seven years. Most, however, spoke of IRS and Social Security vishing scams.

“Seniors are one of the most exploited demographics in the world,” Katie Westerfield said. “Especially when it comes to cybercrime and fraud. VENZA encourages team members to devote time and energy to a cause of our choosing, and this year I decided to focus on security awareness and education.”

Katie went on to highlight the various techniques hackers use to steal personally identifiable information such as phishing and vishing scams and offered some practical guidance on how to identify and avoid them.

“I could not be any prouder or more supportive of what Katie has done,” Jeff Venza, CEO said. “She’s a phenomenal customer success coach, and I’m sure she brought the same level of care and attention to the seniors at the Alpharetta First United Methodist Church that she gives every day at VENZA.”

The group loved the presentation and asked Katie to come back to present again. Next time, Katie intends to discuss topical subjects such as multifactor authentication, how to implement strong, complex passwords, and how to maintain and update common personal devices.