Cybersecurity Awareness Month Recap
Howdy everyone!
Hope you all enjoyed our work this month as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. We wanted to take a second to recap the main ideas for this year, but since it’s Halloween – we’re going to put a spooky little twist on this. So, have a seat and hang on, because Adam is going to try to be… creative.
Use Strong Passwords
Trick or treat! We all remember saying that as kiddos as we eagerly ran around our childhood neighborhoods on Halloween right? The phrase ‘trick or treat’ was our ticket to some sweet treats and told our old neighbors that we were there for candy. This is kind of like a password right – the magic phrase along with a good costume that unlocked our favorite sweets.
In our modern world our passwords are the keys to so many aspects of our digital lives. This makes them a ‘sweet treat’ to the real ghouls and goblins of the world out to get their hands on our sensitive data. So how can we keep the bad guys from getting their hands on our sensitive data? Practice good password habits. What are those habits? Glad you asked!
Use long, random, and unique passwords. These should include uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. But remembering a TON of random, complex passwords can be a challenge – even for us IT folks. This is where a good password manager can be helpful. But there’s more.
Turn on MFA.
Trick or treating had a couple requirements to get those sweet Halloween treats. We had to dress up in a spooky costume (or if you were me probably some Star Wars character) but also, we had to say the magic words right? This is kind of like multifactor authentication to get those treats.
Multifactor authentication combines something you know (your password) with something you have (a unique code, biometrics, or a hardware key.) The idea behind this is that if a bad actor were to have one of those items, they would be useless without the second factor. In fact, turning MFA on with your accounts is one of the most effective ways of keeping the bad guys out. Many services make this super easy to do, so turn it on. Sure, it might take an extra couple seconds longer to log in, but that time is well spent if it keeps the bad folks out.
Recognize & Report Phishing
Just like on Halloween, the bad guys try to disguise themselves online to get access to your sensitive information. Take the time to recognize the signs of phishing and ask questions.
For instance, if you get an email or text message from your boss asking you to urgently run to the store for some gift cards – ask yourself some questions. Is it REALLY your boss, or is someone pretending to be your boss? And if you’re not sure, reach out via a different method to verify.
And when you recognize the impostor among us – report it. This helps defenders reduce the risks to everyone else in the company.
Update Software
Y’all remember that spooky looking house in the neighborhood that all your friends swore was haunted? Perhaps all that place needed was a few… updates.
Software is like that too! Older software often has vulnerabilities and security flaws that the bad guys can use to gain access to sensitive information. And from a security perspective – these flaws can really give us the creeps.
Updating software automatically, when possible, makes sure those super scary flaws are addressed. And if automatic updates are not possible – you (or your IT folks) should establish a regular schedule to maintain and update those programs.
After all, would those old, haunted houses be as spooky if the homeowner kept up on the small maintenance tasks?
Wrapping Up
That’s everything folks! We really enjoyed sharing these cybersecurity tips as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
But lets remember – cybersecurity awareness doesn’t just end on Halloween. Keep these tips in mind as you go about your lives to keep those spooky internet monsters at bay.
And let’s hope, that the scariest cybersecurity thing you see all month is just Adam trying to be creative and spooky.
Check out these videos for more info!
Why Do I Need to Update My Technology?
What are Good Password Habits?
How Can I Tell if an Email is a Scam?