PEORIA, Ill. – To recognize the importance of cyber security, Governor J.B. Pritzker has proclaimed October as Cyber Security Awareness Month.
First recognized in 2004, this year’s national awareness campaign emphasizes the importance of personal accountability, as well as ways to stay cyber secure at home and the workplace.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) is joining with the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), to increase awareness and provide tips on what people can do to prevent problems and be secure.
Adam Ford, Chief Information Security Officer, said that creating a complex password can make people feel unsure.
“A complex password doesn’t have to just be a bunch of random digits put together. You can build passwords out of common sentences you might say, and add numbers and special characters to that, so it’s easy to remember,” Ford said.
Ford also recommends not re-using the same password for multiple websites.
“Less times you re-use the same password, the less likely you are to be victimized if a specific website was hacked,” Ford said.
Always keep software and operating systems updated. Using the ‘auto update’ setting is the best way to ensure regular updates.
Ford said it is good to not only keep the software updated on your computer, but also on your cellphone.
“We use our cellphones to access a lot of websites now. We access websites as we go around the world,” Ford said.
Ford said that cellphone updates get overlooked often.
“That’s a computer in your pocket. You kind of want to treat it as such,” Ford said.
Also, be cautious about links and attachments. What can seem like a message that is friendly, the messages could contain links to malicious sites.
“When you get an email, if it’s not from someone you know, and it has an attachment or link,” Ford said. “Be very cautious before you click on those links or open those attachments.”
When in doubt, delete it.
