5 Ways to Enhance Your Cybersecurity

What is Cybersecurity Awareness Month?

Cybersecurity Awareness Month was launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) way back in October 2004 as a huge effort to help all Americans (and hopefully others globally too) understand how to stay safe and secure online. Each year the month of October is dedicated to gaining an understanding and awareness of the importance of cybersecurity.

Why is cybersecurity so important?

You wouldn’t ride a motorbike without a helmet would you? Or take a boat out without a life jacket? Well, staying safe online is much like those activities — you need to have some assurances in place to keep you secure. The internet has grown so much over the past decade and it enables us to do great things like connect with family, stay in touch with old friends, see our grandchildren, play games, and feel connected to something even when we’re worlds apart. But with the positives comes, as always, an alarming number of negatives. Your data (personal information about you) is worth a great deal of money, and in the wrong hands can cause endless damage, which is why it’s so important to protect it. There are several easy ways to stay on top of cybersecurity trends, such as reading trusted articles, research, and news reports. However, not all tips are simply trends: many key things are here to stay. So here are 5 top tips on staying aware and on top of your cybersecurity that you can do easily and often.

5 ways to enhance your cybersecurity 

1. Get an antivirus and back up your goods 

We know, we know. We sound like an old broken record with this one but it is kinda our whole thing so it’s pretty important to us. Often people tend to ask the question, do I really need an antivirus? And the answer? A resounding yes. Having an antivirus on your device will protect you from most types of malware such as ransomware, fake websites, phishing scams, and network hacks. There are many reputable companies that can offer you full and guaranteed online protection with their antivirus software. (FYI we’re one of them.) And on the back of this most common question we’ll throw in a double tip here — make sure you back up all your personal files such as photos, videos, and documents. That means you'll have them safe if you do fall prey to a ransomware attack without a reputable antivirus in place and also helps if your device is lost, stolen, or damaged.

2. Passwords, passwords, PASSWORDS 

There are some hard and fast rules when it comes to creating multiple secure passwords for your accounts. 

• First up, don’t be lazy. 123456 may be easy for you to remember sure, but it’s also literally the easiest password to crack ever. Stay away from what’s obvious and don’t be tempted by sequential numbers or anything that contains the word password. 

• Be unique. Don’t include any personal info such as your name, any aspect of your date of birth, or hometown. If you’re ever specifically targeted for a password hack, the hacker will put everything they know about you in their guess attempts and if your password happens to be your surname and the year you were born they’d have a very easy ride indeed. 

• Make it long. This is one of the most important factors and you should always aim to choose a password longer than at least 15 characters. 

• Mix up the characters. The more you mix up letters (upper-case and lower-case), numbers, and symbols, the more complicated your password is, and the harder it is for it to be compromised. 

• Don’t use memorable keyboard paths. Much like our advice above not to use sequential letters and numbers, don’t use sequential keyboard paths either (like qwerty). These are among the first to be guessed and also come on, where’s the creativity!? 

Speaking of creativity, here’s a couple of handy ways to come up with a memorable yet unhackable password. The first is the passphrase method. Use things like your favorite historical figure, along with your favorite word from a different language, matched with the first city you ever visited. Combine them together and you have something very hard to crack but easy for you to memorize As a rule of thumb we’d suggest throwing some numbers in at the end too. Here’s how that could look:

LutherKingEnchanteAntwerp89

Pretty good right? There’s also the Bruce Schneier Method where you think of a random and obscure sentence that means something to you and transfer it into a sentence using a rule. The rule could be the first two letters only. So, something like ‘my favorite restaurant in Suffolk is near Ed Sheeran’s house.’ Making your password:

MyFaReInSuIsNeEdShHo

And we probably don’t need to say this but we’re going to — don’t use the same password for all your accounts. It’s tempting yes but it makes it so much easier for you to be hacked everywhere. If you’re worried about being able to remember so many varying and unique passwords you can use password manager software which will do the job for you.

Of course, when you have online accounts you always run the risk of having your data breached. AVG BreachGuard helps you take back control of your online privacy by protecting your private data and alerting you to data breaches. So if your data is compromised you’ll be notified and can change your logins. You’ll also get advice on tips on how to keep your accounts and passwords secure.