4 Key Behaviours to Ensure Cybersecurity -Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Every October, the government and commercial sector work together to promote cybersecurity awareness and give everyone the tools they need to safeguard their personal information from online crimes.

Why is Cybersecurity awareness Important?

Cybersecurity is important because it protects all forms of data from loss and theft. Intellectual property, personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive data, protected health information (PHI), individually identifiable information (PII), sensitive data, and corporate and government information systems are all included.

Phishing is typically where cyberattacks or data breaches begin. Because of the pandemic’s quick use of internet banking and e-commerce services, phishing attempts have increased significantly in Singapore. The top 10 scam methods, which included phishing, cost victims a combined $227.8 million in the first half of this year, according to the Singapore Police Force.

“According to our data, the exposure to phishing increased 127 percent between Q4 2020 to Q1 2021. We also observed that the phishing encounter rate in Singapore is almost half at 41.6 percent across iOS and Android devices.” Said Don Tan, Senior Director of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Lookout.  

Cybercriminals have a world of options when phishing is employed to acquire login credentials. Bad actors can then attempt to log in to a variety of popular cloud-based services using a single set of credentials.

A case in point would be the luxury hotel chain Shangri-La Group’s database breach, which may have exposed the personal information of visitors who had stayed at its hotels in Singapore.

The luxury hotel chain Shangri-La Group revealed  that eight of its hotels in Asia had experienced a data breach. Information from these databases, including names of guests, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, membership numbers, dates of reservations, and company names, was found to have been stolen. Although there are currently no signs that any visitor information has been exploited, this should serve as a reminder to businesses of the value of protecting their data and the personal information of their clients.

Being safe online is simple

Even if the majority of cybersecurity news stories focus on significant data breaches and hackers, it can still seem overwhelming and like you have no control over it. But Cybersecurity Awareness Month serves as a reminder to everyone that there are several ways to safeguard your data. Even learning the fundamentals of cybersecurity may have a significant impact.

Here are 4 key behaviours to ensure cybersecurity

1.Update your software

Keeping your software and applications updated is one of the simplest ways to keep your information safe.

Don’t wait to upgrade your software when it becomes available; do it immediately. These upgrades include fresh security fixes where thieves may enter and repair common program issues. Software updates are a simple method to remain one step ahead of the bad guys as they are constantly seeking for new ways to access your data through software.

2.Using strong passwords

The keys to your digital world are your passwords. You want to take every precaution to keep your passwords secure, just like you would with your valuables.

With additional authentication techniques, such as multifactor authentication (MFA), passwords can be made impenetrable.

For those of us who use the internet, creating, storing, and remembering passwords may be a hassle. However, passwords are really your first line of protection against hackers and data breaches. Additionally, free, user-friendly password managers make managing your passwords simpler than ever. You can stay secure online for years to come with a little planning now.

Tips on setting up a good password:

While creating a strong password might be challenging, it is actually much simpler than you would realize. A strong password must be long, unique and complex.

• Long: be at least 12 characters long .

• Unique: Each account must have a different password to safeguard it. Use unique passwords only. In this manner, even if one of your accounts is compromised, the rest of them are safe. Each of your passwords should be completely different from the others, not simply one character changed.

• Complex: Passwords should have a combination of upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

3. Recognizing and reporting phishing

Phishing is a popular tactic for cybercriminals, but you don’t have to fall for it.

Phishing is the practice of fraudsters using phony emails, social media postings, or direct messages to get you to click on a dangerous link or download a harmful attachment. You can give the criminals access to your personal information by clicking on a phishing link or file. Malware can potentially be downloaded into your device through a phishing campaign.

Even though the warning signals of phishing might be subtle, once you know what to look for, you can avoid being duped. Spend a few moment making sure the email appears legitimate before opening any links or downloading any files.

4. Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Two-factor authentication or two-step verification are other names for multi-factor authentication, which is sometimes referred to as MFA. Whatever you choose to name it, MFA is a security mechanism for an account that necessitates several forms of identity verification for every user before they can log in. You typically input your login and password before demonstrating your identification in another method, for as by providing a fingerprint or replying to a text message.

Even if they know your password, hackers will have a very difficult time accessing your online accounts thanks to MFA.

Although it can seem like a lot of work, once MFA is configured, verifying your identity often takes just a few seconds. And MFA is well worth it since it gives you piece of mind.

Cyberattack victims might include anyone. Be active and take the initiative to defend yourself from these cybercriminals at all costs. You never know when the next cyberattack will occur or if you will ever become a victim.

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