May Tips
Security Update
From pass phrases, to ad-blockers, anti-virus software, MFA, password managers, and enabling remote services — learn ways to protect yourself and your family on all your digital devices.
Here are a few tips to avoid data theft, financial loss, or malware infections:
Stay alert for phishing attacks
Phishing is one of the most common attacks you’ll encounter both at work and at home. Stay on the lookout for common warning signs like bad grammar, misspellings, threatening language, and a sense of urgency. Don’t click on any links or download attachments that came to you randomly.
Think like a scammer
Before sending someone money or revealing personal information, think through the situation from a scammer’s perspective. Does it seem like a good way to defraud someone? Does anything seem out of the ordinary? Trust your instincts and avoid assuming someone is who they claim to be.
Stay safe on social media
Unless you’re trying to build a personal brand, it’s best to set your social media accounts to private and always vet anyone who wants to connect with you. Cyber criminals search public profiles for any information that might be useful to carry out scams.
Protect your mobile devices
From messaging to banking to social media, our smartphones open a lot of digital doors. If available, enable remote services that allow you to locate a missing device or erase all data when the phone can’t be recovered. Only download applications from trusted sources, and keep an eye on the permissions any software asks for.
Replace your passwords with passphrases
We need our passwords to be easy to remember, yet hard to crack. Passphrases accomplish this by forming a sentence (at least 16 characters long) that is meaningful to you and only you. Obscure song lyrics or book quotes, for example, make for great passphrases.
Read more from Security Awareness News (PDF).