Established in 2004 by President George W. Bush and Congress, Cybersecurity Awareness Month raises awareness about identity theft and the importance of keeping your information safe online. Cybersecurity aims to protect individuals’ and organizations’ systems, applications, computing devices, sensitive data, and financial assets against simple and annoying computer viruses, sophisticated and costly ransomware attacks and everything in between. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost $5.8 billion to phishing and other fraud in 2021, a 70% increase from 2020.

You can follow these four simple steps to help stay safe online:

• Use strong passwords and a password manager
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Recognize & report phishing
• Make sure your software and browsers are up to date with the latest defenses, like virus protection and malware alerts

We have outlined further ideas in our blog, Ten Cybersecurity Tips, posted HERE.

For more information or tips on how to protect yourself online, visit the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) website.

If you suspect you’ve been the victim of fraud, call us at (888) 569-9909.