With recent events in the news, we know you have questions and concerns.  One of those may be about cybersecurity. Am I, or is GHC, more likely to come under attack? Am I at greater risk? We don’t have all the answers, nor do we know what will happen next. But we do know from a cybersecurity perspective that focusing on the fundamentals of cybersecurity will help you stay safe online. While the sense of urgency may have changed, how cyber attackers target us has not. By fundamentals, we mean focus on these three topics.

1. Phishing: Phishing and related scams are when cyber attackers attempt to trick or fool you into doing something you should not do. Often these scams are sent as emails, but they can also try to trick with you text messaging, phone calls, or on social media.  Anytime someone is creating a tremendous sense of urgency and rushing you to take an action, or someone is promoting an offer that is too good to be true, this is most likely an attack. As always, never email or text confidential information like your Social Security Number, legal documents, bank account or credit card numbers, or passwords to anyone.
2. Passwords: Strong passwords are the key to protecting your online, digital life. Make sure each of your accounts is protected by a unique, long password. The longer your password the better. To keep it simple, use passphrases, a type of password made up multiple words like “honey-butter-happy”. Can’t remember all your passwords?  Neither can we. That is why we also recommend you use a password manager to securely store all your passwords. Finally, whenever possible, enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your important accounts.
3. Updating: Keep your computers, devices, and apps updated and current by enabling automatic updating on all your devices. Cyber attackers are constantly looking for new vulnerabilities in the devices and software you use. Keeping them automatically updated makes sure these known weaknesses are fixed and your devices have the latest security features.

Finally, there is going to be a tremendous amount of false information spread on the Internet. This is being done by the Russian government, political extremists, and conspiracy theorists on purpose to confuse people. Do not trust or rely on information from new, unknown, or random social media accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Many accounts on these sites were created for the sole purpose of putting out fake information or presenting old images and videos as shocking war footage. Instead, follow established, well-known news sources who verify the authenticity of information before they broadcast it. Finally, if you wish to donate to any causes in support of recent events, once again make sure you are donating to a well-known, trusted charity. There will be many scams attempting to trick people into donating to fake charities ran by cyber criminals.

We know that times like these can be frightening and savvy threat actors are certainly going to try their best to capitalize upon the anxiety, fear, and emotion many of us will be dealing with. Continue to focus on securing your online identity with the fundamentals described above and you will go a long way to protecting yourself, no matter who the cyber attacker is.