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Held every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a collaborative effort between government, industry, and the public. It is an effort that reaches from the White House to the individual to raise awareness about cybersecurity and to ensure that everyone has the resources they need to be safe and secure online. As we prepare for the upcoming holidays, October is the ideal time for people to learn about their cyber presence and the role cybersecurity plays in keeping them, their friends, and family safe and secure.
Cybercrime is defined as any crime committed electronically, such as theft, fraud and even physical threats and endangerment. It is important to know your cyber basics and know how to take action to protect yourself. Being safe on the computer is similar to being safe in your daily offline routine. You would not leave your car unlocked in the middle of a crowded city, so why not apply those same safety principles to your online life?
Cyber attacks do not always have to come from the internet, and malware can hide easily on some of the data storage devices we trust and use daily. Physical cyber attacks use hardware, external storage devices, or other physical types of attacks to infect, damage, or otherwise compromise digital systems. The attack can hitch a ride on USB storage devices or flash drives, CDs, hard copies of video games, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, and even signal devices such as key fobs.
One of the first lines of defense for keeping your information safe online is the use of a password. Some password tips are as follows:
- Use different passwords on different accounts. One of the leading causes of unauthorized access to accounts is the reuse of login credentials (see National Cyber Awareness System Tips—Choosing and Protecting Passwords).
- Use the longest password allowed. The longer and more complicated a password is, the harder it will be for someone to access your accounts. Use 11 characters or more, a short sentence, or a mix of letters, symbols, and numbers to strengthen your passwords.
- Reset your password every few months. Reset your passwords regularly, especially when these passwords allow access to confidential accounts, such as banking or medical data. It is vital to reset passwords as it takes most companies an average of six months to notice that a data breach has happened. By the time a data breach is reported, a threat actor could already be using and/or selling your data.
- Use a password manager. With just one master password, a password manager can generate and retrieve passwords for every account that you have – encrypting and protecting your online information, including credit card numbers and their three-digit Card Verification Value (CVV) codes, answers to security questions, and more.
