As the school season approaches, now is a good opportunity to review how your children – and you – can stay as safe as possible when it comes to cybersecurity.
- Use multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- MFA is now a necessary security measure in today’s world of cyber threats. Use MFA whenever it is offered to you. It may take slightly longer to log in, but it protects you and your data.
- After you enter your username and password, MFA is an additional layer of security. This could be a code generated by an app like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator, a push notification you need to accept, or a code your receive in your texting app or email.
- Use strong passwords.
- Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters for your password. You can use password generators like Multiple Password Generator to create unique, complex passwords.
- Use a unique password for each of your online accounts. If you do use the same email and password combination for multiple accounts and one of those accounts gets compromised, assume they are all compromised and change them all right away.
- Use a secure password manager like Last Pass or Password Safe to store and manage your unique and complex passwords. Just remember to use a strong password that you will remember and use MFA.
- Be wary of links and attachments.
- Phishing and malware campaigns don’t just lurk in emails. They are on social media, SMS, chat platforms, gaming platforms, and other popular sites.
- Remember: If someone sends you an unsolicited link or attachment, be suspicious. Always verify with the sender using another means than the medium with which you received the link or attachment.
- Share with caution. You can do this by:
- Limiting what you share. Don’t provide personal details on social media.
- Limiting the data you allow your apps to access. Do you really need to geo-locate your photos?
- Thinking twice about sharing private information with others. Once you share, it is no longer yours to control. Consider that information may shared with others, and then more people, etc.
- Lock down your files.
- Lock down devices such as your smartphone and laptop. Make sure you use a PIN for your smartphone and a password for your laptop to prevent anyone from casually picking up your device and opening it.
- If you use cloud storage, follow guidelines your cloud provider produces. Your cloud is only as secure as you make it.
Securing data does not get any more complicated than the five tips above. Remain vigilant and remind yourself that cybersecurity and privacy are shared responsibilities.
Source: 5 cybersecurity tips for students returning to school