October was Cybersecurity Awareness Month. As people are the first line of defense for cybersecurity, this year’s theme — “See Yourself in Cyber” — ensures individuals and organizations make smart decisions whether on the job, at home, or college.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month will focus on four key actions:
- Recognize and Report Phishing: If a link looks a little off, think before you click. It could be an attempt to get sensitive information or install malware.
- Update Your Software: Don’t delay – Act promptly if you see a software update notification. Better yet, turn on automatic updates.
- Use Strong Passwords: Use passwords that are long, unique, and randomly generated passwords. Use password managers to generate and remember different, complex passwords for each of your accounts.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication: You need more than a password to protect your online accounts, and enabling MFA makes you significantly less likely to get hacked.
Those of us in the California Community Colleges have a wealth of services and support available through the CCC Information Security Center to help secure our campus network environments and encourage safe online practices among our staff and faculty. Visit the Information Security Center website to learn more.
The CCC Information Security Center is supported by the Shared Infrastructure Program grant awarded to Butte-Glenn Community College District under RFA 18-084 to offer services to CCC colleges and districts designed to maintain the integrity of information systems, including vulnerability assessment scanning, server monitoring, and phishing assessment.
