National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) reminds us that June is Internet Safety Month, a good time for individuals and businesses alike to take stock of our online safety and security. NCSA is a public-private partnership with a mission of educating and empowering a digital people to use the Internet safely and securely at home, work, and school.
NCSA offers the following online safety tips for internet safety month:
- Keep a Clean Machine: Keep all Internet connected devices free from infection and malware by keeping all critical software—security software, web browsers, apps and operating systems—up to date.
- Protect Your Personal Information: Secure your accounts by making passwords long, strong and unique.
- Connect with Care: Limit the type of business you conduct using unsecure Wi-Fi hotspots.
- Own Your Online Presence: Set security and privacy settings to your comfort level of sharing.
- When in Doubt, Throw it Out: If an email, social network post or text message looks suspicious, even if you know the source, delete it.
- Be Web Wise: Be wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true, or ask for personal information.
- Be a Good Online Citizen: Post only about others what you would have them post about you.
The NSCA site is an excellent resource, with information for individuals, for students, and for businesses about malware, phishing, securing an online home network, ID theft, secure passwords, online shopping and more. It’s a great resource.
Prior recommendations we’ve featured from NCSA include:
1. Protect your personal information. It’s valuable.
2. Know who you’re dealing with online.
3. Use anti-virus software, a firewall, and anti-spyware software to help keep your computer safe and secure.
4. Be sure to set up your operating system and Web browser software properly, and update them regularly.
5. Use strong passwords or strong authentication technology to help protect your personal information.
6. Back up important files.
7. Learn what to do if something goes wrong.
8. Protect your children online.