Alliance IT Staffing Team on Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Alliance’s IT Staffing team is excited to share that it is Cybersecurity Awareness month! This topic can be overwhelming so we wanted to simplify what cybersecurity month means and what we all can be doing to keep ourselves safe. According to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) “Since 2004, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, helping individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data become more commonplace.”
The 2022 Cyber Security Theme is “See Yourself in Cyber.” The idea is to demonstrate that cybersecurity is about the PEOPLE. CISA reported, “this October will focus on the “people” part of cybersecurity, providing information and resources to help educate CISA partners and the public, and ensure all individuals and organizations make smart decisions whether on the job, at home or at school – now and in the future.”
According to CISA, there are actions we can all take in order to protect ourselves against Cybersecurity risks:
- Think before you Click: Recognize & report Phishing
- Update Your Software (This is a big one for the workplace!)
- Use Strong Passwords
- Enable MFA (Multi-factor Authentication)
Cisco reported that an estimated 150 million phishing emails are being sent each day. Phishing is a type of cybersecurity attack that comes in a number of forms. Below are common types of Phishing everyone can spot:
- Emails: Being wary of links or attachments especially those marked urgent.
- For example, getting those “UPS or FedEx emails to pick up package, but must pay a fee to hold it or they will send it back.”
- Smishing: Generic emails that have links with spelling errors in texts. This happens a ton with fake Amazon emails. It’s best to go directly on Amazon.com and check orders directly from your account. As a rule of thumb, it is always safer just to go directly to the source.
- Vishing: Spam calls that require you to enter or share personal information.
- Angler Phishing: This happens more on social media platforms for products or services. Rule of the thumb here, if the deal seems too good to be true it probably is a scam.
- Evil Twin Hotspots: Public Wifi networks/access points can be very dangerous. Computers these days can/do warn users if the network or access point is dangerous.
- Pop-Up Phishing: The OG of phishing, this usually pops up as “a virus has been identify on your computer. Act immediately to remove threats”
We hope this information helps you stay safe this Cybersecurity month! Here at Alliance, we are lucky enough to have a well oiled IT Staffing machine who not only help our team with our Cybersecurity information and training, but assist our clients as well.
For more information or if you have IT Staffing needs feel free to reach out to our team!