Cybersecurity Awareness Month is rolling!

 GREETINGS PROGRAMS!!!

Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

How is your password? Is it strong enough? Computer speed and processing power levels are increasing daily. What takes today's computers 100 years to crack might only take 100 days after a short time. See how long it would take to crack your password at Cyber.org's password test page.

Have you set up MFA for your online accounts? Having this 2nd layer of security helps harden your online security posture and decreases the odds your account can get easily compromised. Many sites have MFA built in to themselves and require it be used. Those that don't usually have MFA as well but you have to set it up yourself. If you log in to any sites where MFA is option it is strongly recommended you set it up.

Do you know what red flags to be looking for in every email you receive that can help you identify possible phishing attempts?

•  Unknown sender
• Generic greeting
• Spelling and grammar issues
• Letter/Number replacement (VV vs W, 0 vs. O, etc.)
• Different font types used in same word/paragraph
• Different font colors used
• Sense of urgency (must be done in next 24 hours!)
• Consequences of no action (account will be deleted if you don't act now)
• Demand to click link
• Explanation that the only way to complete requested action is to click the link in the email (what about going to the site directly and logging in and checking things out that way?)

Do you know where a link really goes? Right click a link, select Copy Hyperlink or something like it. Go to www.urlscan.io and paste the URL into the search bar then click Public Scan. You'll get a lot of useful information including a quick screenshot of the main page that loads. You'll also see if the URL you pasted re-directs to other pages. At the top, the "Submitted URL" is what you pasted in and the Effective URL is the actual destination page you land on.

Lots of great information going around this month to help you stay safe online. For more information, check out CISA's Cybersecurity Awareness Month page.