Cybersecurity Awareness Month was established twenty years ago by The President of the United States and the U.S. Congress as a dedicated month for the public and private sectors to work together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. While cybersecurity has become increasingly challenging to maintain, there are a few simple things everyone can do.
1. Strengthen Your Passwords and Use MFA: Multifactor authentication (MFA) is a security process that requires more than one authentication method from independent sources to verify the user’s identity.
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Simple step: Turn on MFA
2. Stay Cautious of Phishing Attempts: Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages purporting to be from reputable companies to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Simple step: Avoiding clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown sources
3. Keep Software Updated: If a criminal gets into our devices through a security flaw, they will look for sensitive information to exploit. Technology providers issue software updates to “patch” security weak spots as quickly as possible. If we don’t install them, they can’t protect us!
Simple step: Turn on automatic updates
4. Secure Your Home Network: Small vulnerabilities in your home Wi-Fi network could cause problems.
Simple step: Change the default name of your home Wi-Fi and use a secure password
6. Backup Your Data Regularly: Even with an excellent cybersecurity plan, bad actors can still gain access to your data. Ensure you have a backup of your most important pictures, videos and documents.
Simple step: Back up your data
Simple steps can add up to a robust cybersecurity plan. Set aside an hour as soon as possible to ensure your data is backed up, you have a secure network, your software is updated, and MFA is turned on wherever possible. These steps, combined with a bit of diligence, should be sufficient for most people’s security plans.
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