October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month occurs every October as a national campaign designed to increase the public’s awareness of cybersecurity and cyber-crime issues. The campaign is organized by the National Cyber Security Alliance, a consortium of public and private sector sponsors who share a concern about protecting the public from Internet threats. 

2023 marks 20 Years of Cybersecurity Awareness Month!  First New Mexico Bank, Las Cruces is proud to be an official Champion of #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth and is dedicated in educating and promoting safer, more secure online practices.

This October, the National Cyber Security Alliance , Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and government and industry  partners challenge all Americans to help secure our world by adopting four simple steps that everyone can take to stay safe online.

Together, we can all collaborate to build a safer and more trusted digital world! Below are the four simple actions we should all take not only during October, but every day throughout the year.

ENABLE MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

Less than two-thirds (57%) of respondents to an NCA survey say they have heard of MFA. Many people don’t realize that multi-factor authentication is an incredibly important tool that goes a long way in keeping accounts secure. In fact, of those who knew about it, most had applied MFA to their online accounts (79%) and were still using it (94%), showing that once MFA is enabled, users will keep using it. 

Learn more about multi-factor authentication.  

USE STRONG PASSWORDS AND A PASSWORD MANAGER

As our online lives expand, we’ve gone from having just a few passwords to today, where we might manage upwards of 100. That’s 100 unique passwords to remember, if you’re using strong password habits. Password managers can save users a lot of headache and make accounts safer by recommending strong passwords. This October, we’re dispelling the misconceptions about password managers and showing others how these tools will keep them safe online.  

Here are some tips about strong passwords.

Do you need more information about password managers?

UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE

Almost 2 in 5 survey respondents say they either “sometimes,” “rarely,” or “never” install software updates (NCA). One of the easiest ways to keep information secure is to keep software and apps updated. Updates fix general software problems and provide new security patches where criminals might get in. This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we’re telling others to step away from the “remind me later” button to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. 

Learn more about keeping your software updated.

RECOGNIZE AND REPORT PHISHING

Phishing attacks increased by 61% in 2022, according to SlashNext. Phishing attacks have become an increasingly common problem for organizations of all sizes and can be very difficult to spot. 30%of small businesses consider phishing attacks to be their top cybersecurity concern. It’s important for every individual to stop and think before clicking on a link or attachment in a message and know how to spot the red flags.

How to recognize and report phishing.