A different kind of hygiene

During the first month of the pandemic lockdown, spam messages increased more than 20-fold. Scammers like to leverage a hot topic to spread misinformation and lure in a vulnerable audience through email, social media, and messaging applications, said the National Cyber Security Alliance.

Cybercrime continued to rise dramatically throughout 2020 and into this year, and the Alliance in turn has advised people to be aware of their “cybersecurity hygiene.”

That includes the following tips for observing good cybersecurity hygiene:

* Use a password manager and strong passphrases.

* Enable two-factor authentication on all accounts that support it. Two-factor authentication, or multi-factor authentication, includes a code sent via text or email in addition to your password.

* Use the 3-2-1 rule to back up and protect your sensitive data and personal identifiable information: Have 3 copies of your data on two different media, with one copy stored off-site.

* Be aware of possible phishing emails, texts, and phone calls. These are fake messages that copy the look of the purported sender.

* Pay attention to your security settings on your device and at the user level. For example, said the Alliance, free public Wi-Fi can be spoofed easily. Instead, they recommend using a hotspot or VPN (a virtual private network, which creates a private network from a public internet connection).