Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month!

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month!

There are many things everyone should do to protect themselves online, and here are three easy things anyone can do today:

1. Use a Password Manager

It's best to not reuse password for your different accounts especially for banking and email. Let a password manager configure complex passwords for your accounts and remember them for you. You just need to remember one strong password to your password manager.
Popular password managers are LastPass, DashLane, and 1Password. LastPass has a free version.

2. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Unfortunately, hackers steal and sell username and password databases. Setting up two-factor authentication creates an additional barrier of protection for you.

If your account offers 2FA, set it up as a text message with code, a security app like Google Authenticator, or a physical security key from Yubikey.

2FA text messages are better than nothing, but the physical keys are the safest (and coolest to use).

3. Back up your stuff

Back up your important files like photos, videos, and documents. Ransomware locks your computer and is a growing problem which can result in losing all your files.
Securely backing up your files is the best and easiest way to protect yourself from ransom and device failure.

I recommend to backup to multiple places: portable hard drives, cloud, and (if you're a business) offsite backups. It's free to use Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud services.

If you have any questions or need help with any of these or know someone who could use some help, let me know and I'm happy to do it and can show you what I use.
I am passionate about information security and just want to help and to stop the bad guys.

To learn more about cybersecurity, go here:
https://niccs.us-cert.gov/national-cybersecurity-awareness-…

To participate in a free cybersecurity competition, go to:
https://picoctf.com/

Phishing Attempt to Steal Email Login and Password

Last week my step-mother's email got hacked. She only noticed that she wasn't receiving her email normally and asked me for help a few days later after she changed her password. By then, the hacker had already redirected her email, emailed all her contacts with requests for "help and send gift cards", and told her contacts of a new email using a different email address in the reply-to part.
I noticed a few days after the original hack, she received a phishing email (attached photo). Unfortunately, she didn't realize it was a phishing email, so she clicked on the link and filled out the form basically giving away her username and new password. I removed all traces of the hack, secured her account, taught her about phishing, and notified the proper channels.

If you or someone you know need some help with securing email or other tech, I'm very happy to help my fellow neighbors and friends (of course for free) because it's something I can contribute to the community....and I dislike bad guys getting away with this kind of activity.

With all the hacks and data breaches going on, it's important to be careful and secure, especially with email and financial logins because the bad guys are after access and money. Use strong passwords and 2-factor authentication whenever possible. Recognize phishing attempts, and don't click on random links.

If you're curious to know if your email may have been compromised, check if you're on the "Have I Been Pwned" website. My step-mother's email was listed on there!
https://haveibeenpwned.com/

Let me know if you have any questions, or PM me!