You may already know more than you think!
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Category: Password Security
What does a good password look like, according to IT Security Consultant Kevin Mitnick?
Summary: As the first line of defense against unauthorized users, your passwords work to keep your data private. Password requirements have grown drastically over the years, as hackers have grown more advanced.
Feedback: Kevin Mitnick (nicknamed the “world’s most famous hacker” in his early years, now a respected cybersecurity consultant) advises a strong password configuration: phrases in place of single words, upper & lower-case letters, symbols, numbers, and even spaces. You can learn more about password requirements and their role in cyber security through ECPI University’s cyber security courses.
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How many passwords should you have across all your online accounts?
Summary: The more characters you include, the harder a password is to crack. For example, a 12-character password would take approximately 34,000 years for a hacker to decipher!
Feedback: If a hacker cracks your password, they can then try that same password on your other accounts. This makes it important to use a different password for everything—and a password manager can help you keep it all organized. Check out ECPI University’s cyber security degree programs to learn all about password security management.
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Category: Software Updates
Many cyber breaches could have been prevented with a simple software update.
Summary: Software updates push improvements or repairs to your devices. These updates fix glitches, improve user experience, fix known security vulnerabilities, and much more.
Feedback: Hackers are always finding new ways to get access to your data. This means that companies like Google and Apple are always upgrading their security and pushing improvements to devices. It is important to keep your devices and software updated with the latest versions from the publishers—some of the largest breaches of the past decade could have been easily prevented with a simple software update. To learn more about software updates, consider earning a cyber security degree at ECPI University.
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Category: 2FA
2FA - Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a specific type of multi-factor authentication (MFA) that strengthens access security by requiring two methods (also referred to as authentication factors) to verify your identity.
Summary: Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) requires two forms of authentication before allowing a user access to an account or device. This could include your password plus one additional form of identification or verification.
Feedback: 2FA ensures that even if someone gets access to your password, they still cannot access your devices or accounts. That’s why physical hardware-based devices are the safest—pair them with a password manager for an additional layer of security. Want to be the master of 2FA? Get in touch with ECPI University to enroll in our cyber security program.Hardware based devices - In hardware-based authentication systems, you have a physical device that provides a rotating series of passcodes to verify identification.
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Category: Phishing
What is a common giveaway of phishing email scams?
Summary: Phishing is a form of social engineering, which preys on our propensity for human error. By masquerading as a familiar organization or individual, phishers hope to trick users into taking a specific action.
Feedback: All of the above are major red flags for phishing emails! Don’t fall for scam emails—take an extra moment to examine if something seems off. It could save you a lot of time and hassle in the future. To learn about the many forms of social engineering, consider ECPI University’s cyber security degree program.Phishing - the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
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Category: Secure Websites
What does https:// at the beginning of a URL indicate; as opposed to http:// (without the ‘s’)?
Summary: Have you ever wondered what the different parts of a URL do? You may be surprised to learn that HTTP means something: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. You may have noticed most websites now say HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure). If that sounds important, it’s because it is.
Feedback: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is important because it encrypts information passing to and from the website to your browser. That little “S” added to the end stands for “Secure,” as in “Secure Sockets Layer” (SSL). An SSL certificate is required for every website, but it doesn’t mean that the website is completely safe. If the owner of an https:// website is malicious or gets hacked, you as a website visitor will still be at risk. Fascinated? Learn more at ECPI University.
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Category: Vishing
Which of the following is an indicator that a phone call from your bank is a scam?
Summary: Just like email phishing, phone vishing attempts to trick individuals and organizations into revealing confidential information.
Feedback: Never share your password, social security number, or 2FA information to a person over the phone. This is a sure sign that the call is a scam. To learn more about vishing, phishing, social engineering and the many other shapes that hacking takes, contact ECPI University.
