Jody Ogle, a cybersecurity adviser for the Department of Homeland Security, left, and Tim Burke, a member of the cyber fraud task force for the Secret Service, discussed Friday good practices individuals and businesses can use to keep their information and data safe online. EDDIE TRIZZINO/BUTLER EAGLE

BUTLER TWP — Your personal information hosted online has likely been accessed by an outside party and you don’t even know it.

Jody Ogle, a cybersecurity adviser with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told this to attendees of a presentation Friday at Butler County Community College. He said that people who use devices connected to the internet are always at risk of having their information compromised.

Ogle said online services like Facebook, Google and YouTube may appear to be free, but the cost to use them is actually paid by personal information. If users aren’t careful, their information, like passwords, can fall into the wrong hands.

“Information is a commodity," Ogle said. “Data backup is the only way to make it through unscathed.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly organized the talk with Ogle and Tim Burke, a member of the cyber fraud task force for the Secret Service. He said cybercrimes are affecting more and more people every day, but many people don’t understand how to keep their data safe, or even why their information is valuable.

"Some people know a lot about it; some people don’t know anything about it; most people are probably between," Kelly said. “This issue, of all the issues we hear about, is the one we need to know more about.”

The presentation room was filled with about 25 people Friday, who represented Butler County businesses, banks, school districts and more. Following the talks from Ogle and Burke, several people asked questions about how they could keep their information safe online, and what they should do if they are a victim of a cybercrime.

Burke said the Secret Service tracks down hackers, scammers and people who rig credit card devices to steal information, which often requires reporting by a victim.

“We are there to help you find out what happened,” Burke said.

Burke and Ogle said information is a commodity that hackers attempt to steal from individuals and businesses, often in hopes of selling it for ransom. This kind of scam is known as ransomware, and often involves the stealing of passwords to get into users’ personal accounts.

Ogle said users need to be aware of their online habits and use so they don't put give data like passwords, credit card numbers or personal information to scammers. If they do hold personal information for ransom, there is no guarantee that a user can get it back safely.

Ogle said multi-factor authentication, which requires people to use more than one device to log in to a website, is currently one of the safest methods of accessing accounts. Additionally, he urged people to use strong passwords, keep software updated and read suspicious-looking emails or posts carefully before providing information to them.

“When you log in to your phone, or whatever it is you are logging into, sometimes people are frustrated that now you have to have a (personal identification number) sent to it,” Ogle said. “It is frustrating, it is cumbersome, but what multi-factor authentication does is, it’s more than one way of validating yourself.”

One of Ogle’s main points of concern was ransomware. Ogle said ransomware is often sent in the form of emails that look legitimate, but are actually from “the bad guys.” He said when an email appears to have been sent from a colleague, but has spelling errors or other oddities, it could be a hacker trying to get information.

Ogle and Burke said it will be up to the user to decide how to respond to a person holding their information for ransom, but they would not advise someone to pay a demanded ransom.

Ogle also warned business owners who have ATM machines to check the credit card slot for inserts that bad actors can put in over the existing slot, which allows them to scan a card and obtain information physically.

Kelly said the presentation was to make folks aware of what kind of data stealing is possible, so more people know how better to keep themselves safe.

“We don’t know who is messing with us, who is gaining access to our data,” Kelly said. “The idea behind everything is being foretold and forewarned; the best comeback is being aware of what’s to come.”