Technology Tips Proven to Keep You Safe Online at Home

As millions of employees adjust to working from home, there's a greater need to ensure that we work safely. Cybercriminals are exploiting the disruptions in our work and personal lives to launch new ways of cyberattacks, often couched as urgent emails with information about the COVID-19 pandemic or government assistance.

Below are some tips to stay safe while adjusting to new ways of working.

What Should I Do About Setting Strong Passwords?

As we download and use new streaming, food delivery and shopping apps, it may be tempting to go easy on passwords. However, weaker passwords are easier to guess or identified using brute-force 

Phillip Baumann, an IT Support professional in West Palm Beach offers some do's and don't's to passwords.

DO:

• Use long passphrases that include 2 or more words

• Make passwords at least 8 characters long and ideally 12-15 characters

• Use special characters, numbers and both uppercase and lowercase letters

• Create passwords that are nonsensical to others or include unusual words

• Keep passwords in a safe place, such as in an encrypted password manager

• Embed special characters and numbers throughout your password

• Create unique passwords for each site or app

• Add an extra layer of security with two-factor authentication, especially for email accounts

DON'T:

• Use the word "password" or a variant like "p@s$word"

• Use single words as passwords

• Put special characters or numerals only at the beginning or end

• Include personal information like family names and birthdays

• Share passwords or write them on a piece of paper attached to your computer

• Use common patterns like 12345, qwerty or abc123

• Create the same password for all your apps and sites

• Think a weak password is OK if using two-factor authentication

How Can I Detect Phishing Attacks?

Phishing attacks work by counting on a reader's desire for information. Often they contain links to websites or attachments that, when clicked on, download malware or ransomware onto machines and networks.

If an email, text, or call claims to be from the IRS, FBI, Google, or Apple, be skeptical, especially if they ask for your account information or passwords. Be sure to hover over the sender's email address or any link to see the true URL. Look for poor grammar and spelling, too. In short, if you're at all suspicious, delete the email or voicemail and report it to your company's IT department.

Can I Still Check Facebook on Personal or Work Devices?

Facebook is an important way to stay connected to friends and family right now. If you do not want Facebook to track your activity, you can use apps like Mozilla's Facebook Container to make it more difficult to track your activity on Facebook and other apps it owns, including Instagram and Messenger.

What Can I Do About COVID-19 Scams?

There's a lot of misinformation these days about the COVID-19 pandemic. How can you spot legitimate news? Consider the following tips from the International Federation of Library Associations:

• Consider the source and review the site's mission and contact info

• Read beyond the headline to get the true nature of a story

• Research the author

• Look at the date to make sure you're not reading older news

• Click on links to see whether supporting information is valid

• Consult a fact-checking site

• Be wary of satire news sites

• Check your biases to see if your beliefs are shaping your assessment

How Can I Keep Programs Safe from Cyberattacks?

If your software and hardware do not update automatically, be sure to install updates to apps and operating systems when prompted. Often these updates address emerging security issues.

The "new normal" of work means being vigilant and careful about cybersecurity. Be sure to practice safe computing to reduce the risk to your devices and company networks.