October is Cyber Security Awareness Month. Cyber Month is an internationally recognized campaign held every year to inform the public on cyber security.
The City of Burlington is sharing five tips with residents on how to stay safe online:
- Use complex and unique passwords for all online accounts. Each account should have different and unique passwords to secure your information. Have a hard time remembering complex and unique passwords? Use a password manager. A password manager is an app on your phone, tablet or computer that stores your passwords, so you don't need to remember them.
- Update software regularly. Keep operating systems, antivirus software, and applications up to date to protect against vulnerabilities, security flaws and the latest cyber threats.
- Enable multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication provides and added layer of security to your accounts and devices. Fingerprint, facial recognition, PINs and text verifications are common forms of authenticators provided by banks and email software.
- Talk to your friends and family about getting cyber safe. No one is excluded from being at risk when it comes to cyber threats like scams and malware. Make sure to have a cyber security plan. This includes setting responsibilities for who completes routine updates to shared family electronics and passwords.
- Exercise caution with email and links: Be cautious of suspicious emails and links. Do not open attachments or click on links from unknown or unverified sources to prevent phishing attacks.
For more information and valuable resources on cyber safety, visit: GetCyberSafe.gc.ca.