It was the stuff of nightmares. In August news broke that roughly 3 billion pieces of personally identifiable information were hacked – including the social security numbers of most, if not all, U.S. adults – from National Public Data (NPD), a company that performs background checks. Each and every American had to wonder, had their data been affected? If so, what to do? Some news sources suggested measures to take, all well-intended and even helpful. They would be time-consuming, inconvenient and hardly comprehensive, however. One could almost hear the collective groan.
From 2022 to 2023, online data breaches went up a full 20%, and the NPD hacking may have been among the largest in history. Breaches not only damage individual reputations and threaten safety, but have significant financial implications. Last year, $12.5 billion was lost to personal cybercrime. What to do in this increasingly perilous environment? Enter: AI-powered protection.
Aura is an all-in-one online safety solution that predicts, prevents and protects against online threats, including fraud. The mobile and desktop-based app monitors assets and financial accounts across channels, devices and persona. Here, a look at its capabilities broken down by feature:
Identity Protection
Sensitive bank account information, social security numbers and more are continuously monitored by Aura for signs of fraud. And if suspicious activity is detected, alerts are sent up to 250 times faster than they are by similar services[1] . When problems do occur, the app is also on-point. Live agents are available to provide 24/7 support, and if you’re a victim of scams or fraud our White Glove Resolution Specialists offer step-by-step identity restoration and recovery services. $5 million in identity theft insurance per adult helps cover any damages and costs caused by a digital crime incident.
Privacy Assistant
Spam emails, robocalls and robotexts: Not only are such online realities annoying, they can lead to costly financial crimes. Aura cuts down on them by continuously conducting data broker “opt outs” on behalf of consumers, to reduce the amount of personal information available to marketers, and to increase privacy.
Digital Vault
Aura’s “digital lock box” has military-grade encryption and stores everything from home titles to digital versions of passports and insurance cards. But it’s not just a “lock box.” Everything stored in the Vault is also monitored constantly (driver’s license numbers, insurance information, financial accounts, etc.) – anything that you entrust to the Vault is added to Aura’s monitoring services, and if it ends up on the dark web you’ll be the first to know. It also allows for safe sharing of its contents with select others on your plan.
Password Manager and Automated Password Change
Passwords are key to maintaining online security, of course. Aura keeps them all in one place and easily accessible across devices. The app also makes sure they remain strong, unique and secure. If not, it suggests changing them and automatically generates new ones. Via its own browser extension, Aura will note if an account is not yet in the app and add it at the click of a button.
Dark Web Monitoring
The dark web is the bad neighborhood of the internet. If clients’ personal information is detected on it, Aura immediately alerts clients to re-secure accounts that were breached – and prompts them to do so with other accounts using the same password.
Credit Monitoring, Tracking and Lock
Similar services rely on one credit bureau for alerts about possible suspicious activity. Aura is directly connected to all three, and has one-tap credit locking and unlocking with Experian. As a result, clients are notified in near real-time of inquiries into your credit files across all three bureaus, so you can act quickly if there is a problem.
Transaction Monitoring
Clients can link bank accounts to Aura and set spending limits on each. (If the limits are exceeded, clients are alerted to potentially suspicious activity.) Again, Aura streamlines the process, you’ll also get notified if your registered financial accounts were exposed on the Dark Web.
VPN
Aura enables banking, shopping, and streaming privately and safely – even on public wifi. With military grade encryption – and minimal impact of battery or performance – its VPN helps clients elude bad actors.
Safe Web Browsing
Malware, phishing and untrusted sites can be blocked by this AI-powered feature. Distracting advertisements and intrusive site trackers are also curtailed.
Social Media Monitoring and Privacy Checkup
It’s not just financial accounts and assets that are at risk: the hacking of social media accounts can result in reputation damage, loss of privacy, and even financial damage. Aura alerts clients to breaches as well as to concerning posts, comments, and inappropriate images.
Family Plans, Family Sharing and Parental Controls
Aura’s Family Plans allow for the inclusion of up to 10 adults, each with a private account and $5 million insurance of their own. It also allows for an unlimited number of children. Members can be added with just a name, email and social security number – regardless of location, age or even technical role in the family. (Other services are stricter.) Files, alerts, and more can be shared between those on the plan, and parents can limit children’s screen time, enable content filters, and block certain types of activity.
AI-Powered Spam Call & Text Protection
Aura reduces text scams and robocalls that are not only irritating but can lead to bad actors accessing information. Spam is blocked, and unknown callers are “screened” by Aura’s AI-powered call assistant. The AI will only forward legitimate calls to you. Aura protects you from harmful text messages by filtering out known spam numbers and scanning links in the message for phishing threats.
***
In sum: Aura covers all the cybercrime bases and provides a best-in-class solution. It’s increasingly used by not only individual customers, but also offered via Aura partners. Ranging from wealth managers – who offer it to top clients as a coveted perk – to employers to insurance companies, these partners sponsor the plan and offer it at no cost to customers, thereby providing extra value and differentiating themselves from competition. In today’s online environment, Aura simply makes sense: It imparts a sense of security in an insecure world.
[1] As compared to the competition. Results based on a 2022 mystery shopper consumer study conducted by ath Power Consulting. ath Power Consulting was compensated by Aura to conduct this study.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
For more information on how Aura can protect you and/or your clients, visit aura.com/partnerships.
