October is Cyber Security Month
We all know we should being doing security but do we actually – do it! Given a chance, cyber criminals will attempt to compromise you anyway they can, steal your details and possibly put you at risk of identity theft. In security we talk about 'resilience' and the ability to withstand attacks and the ability to recover if you have unfortunately been impacted in some way. I am sure you have heard this all before but you can take some simple steps to make yourself more resilient to attacks. Some quick takeaways:
- Use the device protection already built in first on your device (password, key code, fingerprint, face recognition), so if the device is lost or stolen it is not immediately accessible;
- If you have a lot of passwords to remember, consider a 'password management' application to store them securely in one place. Plenty are available free and it provides additional comfort in the event the device is stolen, rather than detailed on your notes page;
- Most people are concerned with access to on-line banking accounts from lost/stolen devices first, so keep a list of online banking numbers available should you need to call them to suspend your online account access until you're in control again
- Keep your software and applications updated to help keep your devices secure. Often these updates contain important fixes to recent security vulnerabilities and will close those nasty security holes; and
- Backup regularly, so in the event you need to restore your data you at least you have a fairly recent version. Phone numbers of contacts are a nightmare to gather again as I've found from bitter experience.
Cyber security remains a shared responsibility - Be safe out there!
