October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month
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Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a collaboration between government and private industry to raise awareness about digital security and empower everyone to protect their personal data from digital forms of crime. Delaware Valley University (DelVal's) support team hosts Cyber Security Awareness Month each year in the month of October. Check out the tips and resources below to stay safe and informed.
Your passwords are the keys to your online life.
There are more than 424 billion usernames and passwords on the dark web. Here is how to protect yourself from someone logging into your accounts.
- Use a strong complicated password with upper cases, lower cases, number, and symbols.
- Use Multifactor Authentication
- Use a password manager and only remember one password.
- To create a good password take a sentence and use the first word of each word, add in a number, and symbol to make a good password.
For example: The Philadelphia Eagles will win the super bowl this season.
“T P 3 w w t s b t s $”
What is social engineering?
Social engineering is the art of manipulating or deceiving you into taking an action or divulging sensitive information. To avoid becoming a victim of a social engineering attack:
- Be suspicious of unsolicited contact from individuals seeking internal organizational data or personal information.
- Do not provide personal information or passwords over email or on the phone.
- Do not provide information about your organization.
- Pay attention to website URLs that use a variation in spelling or a different domain (e.g., .com vs. .net).
- Verify a request’s authenticity by contacting the company directly.
- Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email filters.
Hacking the Human - How Social Engineering Works
Don’t become a victim of a phishing attack!
Learn more about how to identify a phishing email by checking the components of an email. Watch out for these email red flags.
- Look for slightly different variations from a legitimate sender.
- It is unexpected or out of character.
- You were copied on an email and you don’t know the other people it was sent to
- Sent during non-working hours.
- Misspellings or variations of legitimate sites
- Hyperlink asks you to take action.
- Hover over the link and be wary if it is for a different website.
- Irrelevant
- Something you never requested or purchased.
- The sender is asking you to click on a link or open an attachment.
- It inspires an emotion.
- You have an uncomfortable feeling.
- Be wary of any attachments you are not expecting.
Spot Phishing Emails | Here is How
Beware of Fake Wifi HotSpots
Did you know that there are risks when it comes to making use of free wifi? To protect yourself from hackers on Free Public WiFi:
- Do not use Free Open Public Wi-Fi
- If you must use Free Open Public Wi-Fi do the following.
- Do not work on any sensitive documents.
- Do not do any banking or other financial transactions.
- Turn off any file sharing apps.
Hacker demonstrates security risks of using free public wifi.
Protect Yourself on Social Media
The average user spends over two hours a day on social media. Discover some of the global risks and what you can do to stay safe. How to protect yourself on social media:
- Do not overshare.
- Be wary of accepting requests from unknown accounts.
- Be careful clicking on links.
- Think before you connect.
- Have a strong security mindset.