October is Cyber Security Awareness Month. With so much of today’s business and communications managed with the help of the internet, the understanding and practice of cyber security is a requirement.
“Always be vigilant,” said Rob Main, interim state chief risk officer with the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Main said that so often people fall prey online to the often unrecognizable “telltale signs of malicious intent.”
Main said that often someone might fill out a survey on social media that will ask questions that could be used as password clues for secure websites.
“Malicious intent involves the execution of social engineering methods which can occur through vishing, phishing, and smishing (among other means),” Main said. “These methods would include a sense of urgency, misspellings or mispronunciations, an enticement to reveal protected information and/or malicious content. The takeaway: a healthy dose of skepticism will help maintain vigilance when dealing with questionable communication.”
During Spring 2021, internet hackers were able to cause severe disruption to Colonial Pipeline, the nation’s largest refined oil pipeline. According to Bloomberg, hackers were able to access to the company’s network through a private account. From there, hackers were able to shut down operations, causing fuel delays along the East Coast. The hackers issued a ransom note for $4.4 million in cryptocurrency. The company shut down operations and ended up paying the ransom to restore fuel to Americans.
Bloomberg reported that, while the hacked account used a virtual private network (VPN), no multi-factor authenticator was used.
Main, who urges the use of multi-factor authentication, said he had spent time at Microsoft headquarters. There, a vice president with the company cautioned that 99.8% of security-related concerns would be mitigated by multi-factor authentication.
Stay Safe Online, a program of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, offers several tips to stay safe while using the internet.
Tips to Stay Safe
- Use strong passwords, avoiding contact specific words like “MarysLaptop.”
- Passwords should restrict common words.
- Keep operating systems current.
- If using a personal device, always keep antivirus and spyware software updated and turned on
For more safety tips, visit staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month.
