October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

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October 2023 marks the 20th Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CSAM).

Cybersecurity Awareness Month

The focus of this year’s CMAM is on four key behaviors:

 

1.    Turning on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Having a strong password is not good enough; using MFA can increase your ability to prevent scammers from getting access to your accounts. MFA is available from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other companies. To look for what companies offer MFA try using https://2fa.directory/us/  


2.    Using strong passwords and a password manager. It is difficult to remember different passwords for various applications, websites, and services, especially when they are complex. Having a good password manager can help keep your password organized.


3.    Updating software regularly. Your software on your phone, computer, and even your car needs regular updates. Not only do you get new features, but a lot of security fixes and enhancements are incorporated into the updates.


4.    Recognizing and reporting phishing. Take a moment and read the email. Who is the email address that sent the email? Never click on a link in the email; always go to the site by typing the address manually. For more tips on avoiding scams, the FTC has several more examples: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam.