October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month and it comes at a time when major cyber breaches have people concerned.
Earlier this month it was revealed that a breach of Yahoo accounts in 2013 affected 3 billion (yes, billion) of its user’s accounts – every yahoo account that existed. This was three times the amount Yahoo originally reported back in December 2016.
Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance says, “Major data breaches – which, like the Yahoo event remind us that we must be vigilant in protecting our personal online information,”
With this in mind here’s Remark’s top 5 tips to stay safer and more secure online:
1. Better passwords
A lengthy phrase of multiple words you can remember makes a good password. Include lower and upper case letters, numbers and special characters. Important accounts should have unique passwords not used to access any other accounts.
2. Authentication
Use more than just a username and password to access accounts such as touch ID and face recognition.
3. Keep security and anti-virus software up to date
All critical software – including PCs and mobile operating systems, security software and other frequently used software and apps – should be running the most current versions. Delete all unused apps.
4. When it doubt, bin it
Delete any suspicious emails or posts and get information only from legitimate sources.Scammers are known to use data breaches to send out emails and posts related to the incident to lure people into providing their information.
5.Monitoring
Always monitor activity on your financial accounts. If appropriate, implement a fraud alert or credit freeze with your financial provider.
