October is Cybersecurity Awareness month. Sentinel works hard to make sure that our internal cybersecurity is strong, and our members are protected. Throughout the month of October, we will be sharing a post each week to strengthen your knowledge. Over the next four weeks we will be covering the basics, identifying types of cyber-attacks, sharing ways to protect yourself, and what to do if things go wrong.
Maintaining safety on the internet boils down to a few cybersecurity basics such as managing passwords, connections, and most importantly yourself. Anything online can pretend to be something else with the intention to trick you. Your information is valuable, and that is what cyber attackers are after. If they can get your login information to one account, they can likely get it to other online services you use. With just one piece of information, such as your phone number, name, or address, attackers can work to uncover additional information.
Keeping passwords up to date and strong is the first step to keeping yourself secure. Using a reliable password manager, whether online or physical, helps reduce confusion while keeping strong passwords. Most password managers can sync across your devices, making it easier to update, save, and manage your passwords as you change old passwords or create new ones.
Managing your connections online is about keeping track of what you interact with. Knowing exactly who or what you are interacting with will keep you secure. An easy way to tell if you are connected to a verified website is using the HTTPS protocol. If a web link begins with HTTPS://www… You are on a verified website. The HTTPS is, simply put, a security check certifying your connection is to a verified source. This shows that you are connected via an encrypted source.
The “People Aspect” of cybersecurity is the most important. Attackers will use any and all information about you, so limiting what you put online keeps them from being able to get more. Making sure your phone number, email, name, date of birth, etc., is only shared with trusted sources keeps attackers from being able to extrapolate more. Along with keeping your own personal information safe, knowledge is very important. Having a second place other than your contacts app to keep phone numbers is a great practice. Impersonators can call you with urgency pretending to be your financial institution attempting to get information. Do not give any information, hang up and dial the contact number you have written down.
The world is constantly fighting off new waves of cyber-attacks. At Sentinel, we maintain these practices and many more to ensure internal security. Making sure to arm our members with the right tools and knowledge to defend themselves against these cyber-attacks is part of that security.
