UTOPIA University: Cyber Security Do’s and Don’ts
Hello UTOPIA Fiber family and welcome back to UTOPIA University! Today, we will be talking about cyber security. We’ve got several tips to go over that will help you stay safe and secure online. Let’s jump into it!
Passwords and Authentication
Authentication is you proving that you are who you say you are. The first part of that is your username and password. Your password is something memorable that only you should know. However, your password should also be something complex and not easy to guess. A good way to keep your password complex is to introduce additional characters, upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and even symbols. To take things a step further, you could use a password manager. Something like LastPass, BitWarden, or One Password. Those managers allow you to generate a unique password for every site or service that you use. A lot of times, we like to use the same password for every site that we go to. We’ll have the same password for our bank account, as we do for our social media, and our school website. That’s a bad idea because if one website gets compromised, all the passwords are compromised. The great thing about a password manager is if you do have a password that’s compromised, you don’t have to worry about all the other passwords being compromised. Another feature of a password manager is that you can rotate these passwords and change them often.
Muli-factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication uses a separate application, something like microsoft authenticator or google authenticator. Authenticators are associated with the accounts you are trying to secure and generate a code that you use to log in. Someone may be able to use your password, but if they don’t have that code, they won’t be able to get any further.
Biometrics
The next method you can use that goes along with your multi-factor authentication is using biometrics. I’m sure you’ve used something like a face-scan, a retinol scan, or even a fingerprint scan. These biometrics are a measurement of life and they are a great way to help secure your accounts as well.
Antivirus & Anti-malware
Tip number four is to run antivirus and anti-malware software on your computer. These are pieces of software that are specifically designed to keep track of things that are coming and going on your computer to try and keep you safe from potential malware hacks or problems with your system. It is very important to keep antivirus software updated. If your software is not updated, they won’t keep track of the most recent problems that are out there. So, be sure to keep them updated and do regular scans.
Backup
Back up your important files and keep them protected. Now, it is important to understand that a back-up is not just copying everything over to a thumb drive and calling it good. A real backup is something that is copied multiple times. You’ll have a copy of the file on your computer and you may have a backup on a thumb drive. It is also a good idea to use a cloud backup as well. To reiterate, you’ll want multiple copies of the data on different media and preferably in a different geographical location. It is also very important that you test these backups regularly. Make sure that you can actually recover your taxes, make sure you can recover those pictures that are so important to you, make sure that your backups are sound and properly tested.
Social Media
Social media is life at this point. You’re able to create a digital presence for yourself and for your loved ones. It’s a way to communicate, share, and understand what’s going on in the world. Social media is so important and is also used for authentication. This is why it is important to keep your social media secure. Keep in mind that everything you put on social media, stays on social media. It’s important that you go through and understand what it is that you’re putting out there. Don’t share important things to you like birthdates, social security numbers, your credit card information, your banking account information, and other information that you want to keep secure. Again, once you put it on social media, it’s on social media forever.
Mobile Safety
Your mobile device, your phone, tablet, even a watch can be used to access the internet. Think about all the things you do with your phone. You use banking on your phone, you take pictures of loved ones with your phone, connect to social media on your phone, etc. Your phone really is the lifeblood of your communication process. So, it is important to keep that phone secure. Again, make sure that you’re using a password. Usually mobile passwords are a pin, but you can also introduce biometrics. You can use a finger print or face scan in order to get into your phone.
Phishing
The last tip has to do with phishing. Now, we are not talking about trying to catch a fish with a line and a lure, but we are talking about something related. Phishing is the idea or the concept that someone’s trying to get information from you by presenting you with fake information. A lot of times, this is going to be a website that’s sent to you via email or text message. Those websites may be curated to look exactly like your bank website or your kids school website. The point of this is that people will try to use that fake website to get your information, your login, your password, perhaps your bank account information. They’re so sophisticated, so it is important that you keep track of what is going on. If you receive an email or a text that you think may not be quite right, whether it’s worded improperly, an attachment that you’re really not expecting, don’t click on the link. Don’t open that attachment. Make sure you go through and you confirm that what you’re receiving is legitimate. If you receive an attachment, a link, or a phone number, instead of clicking on those links or using that phone number to call a company, go directly to the website instead and get the contact information from them directly. A lot of times, if you have a phone number that comes across a text message or in an email, if it’s phishing they’ll have somebody on the other line. They’ll try to convince you that they are from your bank, or from your school. It’s really important that you reach out directly using the proper resources instead of using something that comes across a text or an email.
To recap, make sure you are keeping your passwords safe and using complex and potentially randomized passwords through something like blast password or one password. You’ll want to make sure that you use multi-factor authentication, using something that generates a code for you in order to access your accounts and keep them secure. You also want to make sure you keep your computer updated. Keep your phone, computer, and any of your devices updated. Make sure the operating system software and the application software are updated and fully patched. And remember, backups, true backups should be on different types of media, in different geographical locations, and should be tested regularly to make sure they are valid files. Remember, with social media, whatever you put out there, stays out there. Keep your mobile devices secure. Make sure to use biometrics to log into those devices to keep your account and your information safe. And lastly, be wary of phishing. Be careful and look out for scams that come across via text and email, even potentially over the phone. Make sure that you are verifying who is sending those messages and make sure the information is valid.
Thank you for joining us for today’s UTOPIA University episode! We hope you learned something new. Stay tuned for next month’s episode!
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