Cybersecurity and Your Carpenter Benefits

Keeping your financial and benefits information secure is important. There are some simple steps you can take to help keep your private information safe and secure.

What You Can Do

Password Security

Keep your passwords safe - Don’t share your passwords with anyone, and don’t use the same password in multiple places.

Password Strength

Make sure your passwords are strong

• Avoid using simple words or strings of numbers (“1234”)
• Abbreviate words, misspell on purpose, and add capital letters
• Combine letters and numbers and include special characters like !, # or &
• Make sure your password is long and complex

For example, use “1drfulMrning!” instead of “wonderfulmorning”

Watch out for “Phishing” and Scammers

Phishing (pronounced: fishing) is an attack where cybercriminals send a fake message that attempts to steal your money or identity by getting you to click on malicious links or reveal personal information on websites that pretend to be legitimate.

• Do not respond to or click links on emails or texts unless you’re sure of the source
• Double-check web addresses and links before you click
• Don’t trust anyone who contacts you and requests personal information

Keep Devices Current and Secure

• Don’t share devices you use to access your benefits information, and keep your passwords to yourself
• Make sure the software on your devices is up to date
• Lock your device with a passcode or biometric recognition (fingerprint or eye scan)
• If your phone is lost or stolen, remotely erase the data; contact your service provider for instructions
• Do not use public wifi to access your private information

What We do to Protect You

Your accounts, data and privacy are our highest priority. Among other things:

• The Fund Office follows HIPAA protocols to ensure your private health information is secure. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is a law that defines how your health information is protected, strictly limiting its sharing and use.
• Your financial information is just as important. The Fund Office protects your data with state of the art security, our staff is trained to avoid malicious attacks, and our Benefits Portal uses two-factor authentication to make sure only you can see your accounts and benefits information.
• We use advanced firewalls to help prevent website attacks, and use credential stuffing protection to prevent automated account login attempts.

Working together, we can keep hackers out, and your data and accounts safe and secure.