Although convenient, today’s always-connected world comes with risks in terms of cybersecurity. But keeping yourself and others safe online is easy when you know how, and it takes less time than you think! 

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month - a collaboration between government and private industry to raise awareness about digital security and empower everyone to protect their data from digital crime. To help spotlight the importance, we share four key behaviors everyone should do to stay safe online and to help Secure Our World.  

Use Long, Complete, and Unique Passwords

• Passwords should be at least 12 characters long and include letters, numbers, and symbols (like % or $).
• Passwords should be random strings of characters, not recognizable words.
• Each account must be protected by its own unique password.

Pro Tip: Use a robust password manager, like Keeper or 1Password, to create and store all your passwords.

Switch On Multi-Factor Authentication

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA), sometimes called 2-factor authentication, adds more security beyond your password.
• MFA will use biometrics, security keys, text messages, or an app to confirm you are you, even if a hacker gets access to your password.

Pro Tip: Enable MFA for any account that allows it.

Think Before You Click!

• Learn how to identify phishing messages – which often try to create panic or communicate urgency.
• Take a few seconds to read through the message and think about it - Is the nature of the message out of the ordinary? Are there obvious spelling mistakes? If you hover over the link(s), does it match the URL address?
• Recognize who sent you the message - do you, in fact, know this person? Would this person send you this message?

Pro Tip: With a bit of knowledge, you can spot most phishing attempts within moments.

Turn On Automatic Updates

• Install software updates as soon as available to ensure you have the latest, most robust security and optimal p
• Better yet, turn on automatic updates to take the initial thought and responsibility off you - simply, agree to run the update or schedule a convenient time for the update to run.

Pro Tip: Treat your security updates as “set it, forget it, and you won’t regret it!”

Listrak prioritizes security measures daily, and our employees complete monthly exercises that teach the latest online and offline security threats and how to identify the warning signs. Over the course of this training, we’ve learned simple ways to protect ourselves, our family, and Listrak from online threats. 

If you are interested in learning more of the basics, we recommend you access KnowBe4’s Home Internet Security Training.