Are you cyber aware? Back in 2004, the month of October was declared Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and over the years it has grown into a collaborative effort between government and industry to enhance cybersecurity awareness.

With most people doing virtually everything online, it is crucial to protect yourself from “bad actors” trying to get your personal information.

Protect Your Data

Here are some tips from CISA.gov on how you can be more cyber aware and protect your data:

Use Strong Passwords – Strong passwords are long, random, and unique and include all four character types (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols). Simple passwords, such as 12345, or common identifying information, like birthdays and pet names, are not safe for protecting important accounts that contain personal information.

Turn On Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) – Also referred to as two-factor authentication, two-step authentication, or similar, MFA provides us with extra security by confirming our identities when logging in to our accounts, like entering a code texted to a phone or one generated by an authenticator app.

Recognize & Report Phishing - Phishing occurs when criminals try to get us to open harmful links, emails or attachments that may request our personal information or infect our devices. Phishing messages usually come in the form of an email, text, direct message on social media or phone calls.

Look for these common signs: Urgent or emotionally appealing language, especially messages that claim dire consequences for not responding immediately, requests to send personal and financial information, untrusted shortened URLs, incorrect email addresses or links (i.e., Amazan.com), and poor grammar or misspellings.

Update Software – Many software updates are created to fix security risks. Keeping software up-to-date is an easy way for us to stay safer online. When notified about software updates, especially critical updates, install them as soon as possible.

Panel Members: Watch out for scams about NCP!

At NCP, we frequently receive questions from panel members about posts they see on the internet. We want to make sure you know what to look for so you can keep your personal information safe.

Check out our video where James shares some examples of common social media posts we see that contain incorrect information about NCP and what we’re all about.

Be safe!

Regards,

Taylor

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