YEC is proud to participate in October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Here are a few tips to protect you from getting tricked online.
NEVER TRUST, ALWAYS VERIFY
If you receive an email or text message asking for you to confirm or enter personal, sensitive information, call the company directly to confirm. Remember, messages and action items should appear in your account when you log in directly from the appropriate website.
STRANGER DANGER, JUST DELETE
Links in emails, tweets, texts, posts, or online advertising are an easy way for cyber criminals to trick you. Be cautious when clicking or tapping anything that comes from a stranger or that you were not expecting. Look suspicious? Be safe and just delete.
READ BETWEEN THE LINES
Does the message ask for action that is unexpected or against company policy? Even when a message appears to be from someone you know, be sure to look for out of the ordinary behavior, an unwarranted sense of urgency for action, misspelled words and unusual phrases. These are prime indicators that you are the next cyber target.
SMOKE SCREEN
Often you can hover (or long tap on a mobile device) on a link to see if it is legitimate or not. Does the destination the link displays align with what you expect, or does it appear differently? Additionally, hackers will use shortened URLs to make a malicious link appear safe to click. If you are suspicious, do a simple Google search to redirect you to the main website. Legitimate links and information can be found by going to the home page and completing a simple search. Either way, be sure not to click while you are clearing the smokescreen!