Cyber Security Awareness month happens every October. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on the importance of Cyber security in this digital landscape. This year's theme is:
"Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart"
Each week our office will update our posts with fun information related to Cyber Security under 'This Week's Cyber-Topic'. There will also be opportunities to win cool prizes during the month!
Did I mention cool prizes? Are you curious about how to win cool prizes, like a cool security shirt!? Check out 'Security Prizes' for more information!
Lastly, be sure to check out the "Helpful Security Tips/Hints!" for tips and tricks related to cyber security.
This is what we have to offer this year:
This month we'll be raffling off a Security Hero tee-shirt! These are the cool shirts you could win!
Here are some ways to be entered into the raffle:
- Report a phishing email or suspicious email to infosec@vcu.edu.
- Complete the crossword puzzles listed below and email it to infosec@vcu.edu:
- Solve our weekly security challenge and email the secret key to infosec@vcu.edu.
- Week Challenge 1: Start hovering around!
- Week Challenge 2: This is coming soon!
October 19:
Probably the only thing in the world that’s okay to be long and complicated is your passwords. The longer the better. The more capital letters, numbers and symbols you use in combination make it harder for others to guess, too.
Managing passwords can be a challenge. Most of us don’t have just one or two passwords, but dozens when you include work and personal accounts. Keeping them updated and secure just adds to the challenge, but it doesn’t need to be hard. By adopting a few simple password habits, we can help improve security and make our passwords easier to manage.
How long is long enough?
The longer your password or passphrase, the harder to crack. Most experts recommend password length should be at least 11 or 12 characters—longer is better. Even adding just one character to your password can boost its security exponentially. To see what kind of boost you can get by adding extra characters, check out How Secure is My Password?
Don’t skimp on the characters
A typical computer keyboard has 94 characters. Use as many as you can, including upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters.
Passwords versus passphrase
Cybersecurity experts debate whether it’s better to use a password or passphrase. But a passphrase is just a kind of password that uses a series of words instead of a series of random characters, so does it really matter what they call it? What’s important is that whatever you use—passphrase or password— it’s long enough.
What about password managers? (need to verify that Mike agrees with this)
A password manager is a great option. It can create hard-to-crack passwords, and then remember them for you. To access your password manager vault, you just need to remember one master password, not dozens. There are plenty of free password managers available for download. Click here to see the ones recommended by CNET.
Are your passwords secure enough?
There are a number of free tools you can use to check up on your passwords. Websites like https://haveibeenpwned.com/, https://breachalarm.com/, and https://passwords.google.com/ check your info against a list of hacked records. If your name comes up, you need to change your password ASAP.
Do your part. #Be cyber smart
Below you will find helpful guides to improve your Cyber-Hygiene: