Protect your Accounts – Emergency Management & Mission Continuity

National Cybersecurity Month is fully underway. Here are a few quick tips to keep yourself safe online:

Update your software – Software updates can get annoying when they’re pushed daily but they’re often fully of necessary security updates designed to prevent hackers from reaching your data. Staying up-date with the latest firmware will help keep your data safe.
Use an antivirus product. Click here for OIT approved antivirus.

Use a unique password for each account you have. Using the same password across multiple accounts gives hackers free reign if to all your other accounts if one is compromised.
- If you struggle to remember your login credentials or make unique passwords use a password manager like LastPass or KeePass. They can save all your login credentials or even generate them for you.
Activate 2-Factor Authentication wherever possible. Having 2FA outs one extra barrier between you and hackers as they’ll need phone or tablet approval of their login even if they manage to steal your login credentials
- Learn more about 2FA here.
Never share your login credentials with anyone including friends and family. The more people who know your login credentials, the more they are to be stolen.
- Phishing attempts will often ask you for your password while claiming to need it to assist you. However, no NCSU employee will ever ask for your password even if the issue is a technical one.

Never leave your devices unattended. Laptops, phones, and tablets should be hidden and, if possible, locked away if you need to step away.
- Desktop computer should be shutdown or have their screen locked.
Store any sensitive data such as health information, tax records, or student records on a flash drive or external hard drive that you keep in safe location rather than on your computer.
- Delete any sensitive data that you don’t need anymore to prevent it being stolen.
Back up your data. In the event your computer or laptop is compromised the only guaranteed way to remove the threat is to delete and re-install your data.