{"id":54937,"date":"2018-12-07T08:50:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T13:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=54937"},"modified":"2018-12-07T13:58:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T18:58:40","slug":"ten-tips-to-stay-cyber-safe-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2018\/12\/ten-tips-to-stay-cyber-safe-this-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten tips to stay cyber safe this holiday season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2019Tis the season to be wary.<\/span><\/p>\n

The holiday season may be merry and bright, but it\u2019s also a time when cybercriminals prey on vulnerable shoppers.<\/span><\/p>\n

With an increased amount of transactions, both at the register and online, it\u2019s important to stay cautious and continue to protect sensitive personal information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russ Fisenko, Technical Analyst with Brock\u2019s Information Technology Services (ITS), says that cybercriminals are professionals at creating imitation emails and websites.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith an increasing amount of people shopping online these days, hackers will construct emails claiming to be UPS or a similar delivery service that tracks and confirms customers\u2019 online shipments,\u201d he said. \u201cThe emails will likely include hyperlinks or attachments containing malicious software.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fisenko says that people should also be wary of entering personal information into unfamiliar websites.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStick to the online stores you\u2019re familiar with,\u201d he said. \u201cFake websites are often created to collect sensitive data or gain access to your computer. Think before you click.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The ITS security team is offering the Brock University community 10 tips to stay cyber safe this holiday season:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Common sense is the best defence: If something seems odd, suspicious or too good to be true, it is most likely an attack.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Keep operating systems and software up to date on all computers and mobile devices.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Creating strong, unique passwords for each online account.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Encrypt and password-protect any sensitive data before it\u2019s emailed.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Never respond to a suspicious phishing email. If in doubt, report and delete it.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Be mindful of what you post online.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Keep mobile devices secure by enabling a PIN or passcode and only download apps from known sources such as Google Play or Apple Store.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Regularly backup important files.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Avoid clicking on links and opening attachments or emails from people you don\u2019t know or companies you don\u2019t do business with.<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Don\u2019t give away sensitive information to a stranger. Ensure that the person you are dealing with is exactly who they claim to be.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more information, visit the<\/span> ITS cyber security website<\/span><\/a>, email itsecurity@brocku.ca<\/a> or call the ITS Help Desk at x4357.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u2019Tis the season to be wary. The holiday season may be merry and bright, but it\u2019s also a time when cybercriminals prey on vulnerable shoppers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54],"tags":[5639,5331,3190,2540,4422,7027],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54937"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54937"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54939,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54937\/revisions\/54939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}