October is quickly approaching! The leaves are changing to vivid colors, the temperature is turning pleasantly cool and crisp, and every pumpkin-flavored item imaginable is beginning to appear on store shelves. A focus on cybersecurity education and awareness for the entire month of October is another little-known but crucially relevant October theme.

Before we enjoy the upcoming season, we need to make sure that we are always cyber-ready. We elaborated on four things you can do to secure yourself from cyber threats.

  • Multi-Factor Authentication

In order to access the related permissions, rights, privileges, and memberships, a user or device must provide two or more different types of proof of control linked to a particular digital identity (known as multi-factor authentication, or MFA). A subset of MFA, two-factor authentication (2FA) assumes that precisely two proofs are necessary for authentication to be successful. Never give anyone your passwords. Whenever possible, utilize multi-factor authentication (MFA) and make sure they are long, powerful, and distinctive. Use a password manager, like RoboForm or LastPass. For each account, use a separate password. Keep your passwords distinct for work and home. Don’t let websites or apps save your passwords.

  • Software Update

Cybercriminals will take advantage of systemic vulnerabilities. Network defenders are working incredibly hard to quickly solve them, but they can only do their job if we all update our software with the most recent fixes. Your PCs, tablets, and mobile phones should all have their operating systems updated. Additionally, update all of your device’s apps, particularly the web browsers. Take advantage of automatic upgrades for all hardware, software, and operating systems.

  • Think before you click

Before opening attachments or clicking links, be cautious. Even if an email appears to be coming from a familiar source, be cautious when opening attachments. Spend that extra second avoiding a potentially hazardous digital circumstance. Because the sender’s identity may have been compromised, do not reply to the email.

  • Passwords

Use secure passwords and avoid using the same ones across other websites. For further security, think about making passwords more complicated or using phrases, and change them frequently. You might also think about downloading a password-management program for your phone and web browser on your computer. You don’t need to generate and remember dozens of passwords when using these apps, which create and insert unique passwords into each of your accounts when you log in. By doing this, the temptation to use the same password for numerous accounts may be lessened.

People are urged to educate themselves and spread the message. There are many tools and materials available from the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Department of Homeland Security that can be used at work or school as well as on social media. Intelecis has a very active IT Helpdesk that ensures the rest of the best ways to keep you cybersafe. Feel free to know more on how you can protect yourself, talk to us today!