Today is International Computer Security Day!!

International Computer Security Day was conceived to raise awareness of Cyber Security, and November 30th was chosen to bring Cyber Security to mind with the approaching holiday season.

There’ll be a lot of online shopping in the coming month and password security is what keeps your accounts safe.

We’re here help you stay safe online and the following are some things you can do to improve your device and online security:

• Use complex passwords and do not re-use passwords – not all platforms are equal in security, if you have an easy password, it can be guessed and if you re-use passwords the bad guys will have access to several (if not all) of your accounts.
• Keep your devices up to date – up to date devices have the latest security fixes which reduces the chance of them being exploited, updates for current devices are free and just takes a little time (usually a restart) to keep on top of.
• Use Multi-Factor Authentication where possible – Multi-Factor Authentication is the best way to secure your online accounts, if the bad guys get your password, they’ll still need your device to get in to the account.
• Use a Password Manager for securing complex passwords you’re unlikely to remember – random strings of letters and numbers are more secure than mixing up words but they’re much harder to remember. Nord Security have a free offering for a password manager here https://nordpass.com
• Treat emails with suspicion – The bad guys are good at impersonating the platforms you use and will try to scare you into an action, typically asking you to update your password on a helpfully provided link (The link is bad by the way) or to download a piece of software to help secure your computer. In any instance always go to the platform site directly, do not use links in email unless you’re 100% sure they’re safe.
• Keep passwords to yourself – No one should require you to give over your password, if they’re legitimate they have access to systems to verify you.

The National Cyber Security Centre has some really good advice here https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/information-for/individuals-families

Please be careful online, there are a lot of threats out there and the bad guys love easy targets.

If you have any questions, contact us at info@sbsit.co.uk

We’re giving away a years free Premium Security license from leading security vendor ESET, drop a like on this post and we’ll select the winner at random on 7th December.