Cybersecurity Awareness Month is observed each October to raise public awareness about cybersecurity and promote safe online practices.

A strong login 

Strong login credentials are vital for protecting online accounts, personal information and financial data. Passwords and multi-factor authorization are the first line of defense from hackers from stealing personally identifiable information, accessing financial accounts or breaching sensitive systems. 

Choose strong passwords that are hard to guess by using a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Turning this combination into a phrase such as, TheM@n1sNonSt0p, can make them easier to remember.  

Multi-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security to your accounts and can be as easy as entering a code sent via text, call or email. Check your settings on a site or account to see if MFA is an option. One more thing, make sure your accountholders know to never share these codes.

Update software and operating systems 

Apps, software and operating systems are updated regularly to fix bugs and patch security vulnerabilities. It’s important to check back regularly for new versions, as automatic updates may not always work, or may be delayed. 

Be social media savvy 

When social media sites are updated, always read the updated privacy information and adjust settings as needed. Remember to never post personal information, travel dates or photos that include sensitive information. And, be wary of messages that appear to come from friends that are unusual, as their profile may have been hacked. 

You can take it a step further by changing their privacy settings to make the information and posts they share not publicly available. This makes social media accounts private to help protect personal information. It also gives a social media user more control over who sees their updates by allowing them to share content only with a hand-picked group of friends and family, reducing the risk for identity theft or strangers leveraging this information to befriend them. 

Be aware of phishing tactics 

Phishing tactics are growing more and more sophisticated, especially with the use of artificial intelligence. But there are still several telltale signs that a message may not be legitimate: 

• Unfamiliar email addresses or phone numbers, or those that don't match publicly listed resources
• Unexpected or unusual attachments
• Hyperlinks that don't match the link in text, are misspelled or are shortened
• A sense of urgency or appeal to authority
• Requests for sensitive information or money
• Offers that are too good to be true
• Generic greetings