October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month — How secure are you?

This October, National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) is commemorating its 15th year to raise awareness about the importance of cyber security in the United States. NCSAM 2018 is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its public and private partners, including the National Cyber Security Alliance.

NCSAM 2018 takes a two-part, synced approach to facilitating discussion and emphasis on cyber security as shared responsibility. DHS will promote and emphasise four key messages, tied together by one overarching theme, "cyber security is our shared responsibility and we all must work together to improve our nation's cyber security." DHS's key messages are month-long goals designed to drive cyber security discussions, events, resources and activities from DHS. The key messages touch on:

• Strengthening the United States’ cyber security ecosystem
• Tackling cyber security as a cross-cutting, cross-sector challenge on a unified front
• Increasing and strengthening the cyber security workforce across all sectors
• Securing critical infrastructure from cyber threats

The NCSAM 2018 has a toolkit with resources for you: https://www.dhs.gov/publication/ncsam-resources

Some best practices for online safety and security are as follows:

• Practice password safety
• Create strong passwords — or even better, passphrases
• Keep passwords safe
• Set security questions
• Keep software up to date
• Stay current and use automatic updates
• Download software from trusted sources

Additional Best Practices

Enroll in two-factor authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication is one of the best ways to protect against stolen passwords, phishing scams and other attempts to take over your online accounts and steal your data.

Avoid malware and phishing scams

It’s important to understand how malware and phishing scams work in order to best protect your devices against these threats.

Use firewalls

Firewalls are a key way to protect your personal information from cyber criminals.

Back up your data

There are many ways to back up your files, and using more than one method will minimize the chance of losing valuable information.

Secure your mobile devices

As the technology behind smartphones and tablets advances, it’s important to stay ahead of cyber criminals by keeping mobile devices secure.

Keep you — and your data — safe!

Erin Tench, CMP