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Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Cybersecurity Awareness Month was created by the National Cybersecurity Alliance in 2004. The goal of the annual campaign is to encourage awareness of cyber security best practices in both people’s personal and professional lives. The harm done by cyber crime has a huge impact on the overall economy and the personal lives of those impacted.

The theme of the 2019 month if “Own IT, Secure IT and Protect IT.” Read tips and suggestions below from the Cipher Team on how to stay safe online organized by this year’s theme.

Share the images on your social networks to spread the word.

Own IT

Owning IT means being cautious with sharing your information.

  • Only accept friend or connection requests from people you know.
  • Backup your data and applications regularly. Test and confirm the backup process is working properly on a regular basis as well.
  • Do not click links in emails or download attachment. These could contain a malicious payload.

Secure IT

Securing IT means being smart with passwords and access.

  • Use a password manager.
  • Use the principle of “least privilege” to manage accounts. No users should have administrative access unless absolutely necessary.
  • Sensitive or confidential information should typically not be sent via email. If it needs to be sent via email, you should use encryption to ensure that the sensitive information is not compromised.

Protect IT

Protecting IT means your devices are secure.

  • Don’t ignore those pop-ups and warnings about installing the latest updates.
  • Patch your operating systems, software, and firmware. You may want to consider a centralized patch management system.
  • Use Group Policy or other mechanisms to control how removable media can be used.
  • Use Endpoint Protection software to make sure devices are not compromised.

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