Welcome to Cybersecurity Awareness Month!
Since 2004, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, time dedicated for the public and private sectors to work together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity.
Over the years it has grown into a collaborative effort between government and industry to enhance cybersecurity awareness, encourage actions by the public to reduce online risk, and generate discussion on cyber threats on a national and global scale. October 2024 marks the 21st Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
Starting in 2023 with the launch of the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA’s) cybersecurity awareness program, Secure Our World is the enduring Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme. This theme recognizes the importance of taking daily action to reduce risks when online and using connected to devices.
As this month continues, CIS will send a weekly email with information and tips on how you can protect yourself, and your family and friends while using digital technologies.
Table of Contents
Keeping your Accounts Secure
In today’s installment, we want to focus on securing your accounts. This includes keeping not only important accounts like Bank Account information secure, but also your SPU Account and any tools you use in your professional, academic, and personal life.
Password Management
You can strengthen your passwords by remembering these three tips. Long, Random and Unique.
At least 16 characters long
Random string of characters or create a memorable passphrase
Make them unique - use a different password for every account
If it’s too hard to remember all your passwords, don’t write them down. Instead, consider using a well-known and reputable password manager. That way you only have to remember one strong password.
If you haven’t changed your password in a long time, now is a great time to update your password. Follow the steps on Change Your Password.
When we choose strong passwords at SPU, we make it much harder for someone to steal not only your personal information, but our community’s information too.
Avoid Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are online messages designed to look like they’re from a trusted source. We may open what we thought was a safe email, attachment or image only to find ourselves exposed to malware or a scammer looking for our personal data. The good news is we can take precautions to protect our important data. Learn to recognize the signs and report phishing to protect devices and data.
Recognize common signs of Phishing
If an email contains any of the following, it’s likely phishing: Urgent or emotionally appealing language, requests to send personal or financial information, unexpected attachments, untrusted shortened URLs, email addresses that do not match the supposed sender, and poor writing/misspellings
Resist and Report
Report suspicious messages by using the “Report Spam” feature in your mailbox. There are even phishing messages that look like SPU. By reporting these messages, you help our mail filter detect and remove these emails before they can arrive in anyone’s email inbox.
Delete
Just delete the message. Don’t reply or click any attachment or link (this includes unsubscribe links). That unsubscribe link could also carry a link used for phishing or download malicious software. It’s best to just delete it.
Remember, if a message looks suspicious, it’s probably phishing!
Setup and Multi-Factor Authentication
Here at SPU, MFA is a requirement for your account. This is because, while it’s not a “silver bullet,” it still provides additional security and verification, such as a code sent via text message or email, or biometrics like a fingerprint or facial recognition; it helps confirm our identities when logging in.
Just because you receive a prompt or notification for approval, doesn’t mean it’s always you who is logging in. It’s still important that when you receive notifications that you check and make sure you know why you’re getting a prompt and if it’s something you expect to have happen.
Setting up MFA a.k.a. Two-Factor Authentication is a step in the right direction towards protecting yourself and those around you.
Consider turning MFA on for all email accounts, banking, social media, online shopping, and any other location where information about your identity might be stored.
We hope these tips we shared with you today help you stay safter online. Stay tuned throughout October for more ways you can stay safe in our digital world.
As a reminder, CIS will never request your password or other protected information via email.