Cyber Security: Individual Accountability

May 24, 2023 Chris Jones

In this post:

Cyber Security starts with YOU
What to look for in emails, links, & websites
Securely accessing financial and sensitive information on the Web (HTTPS)

Look at this beauty of an example of a phishing email - it looks like it came directly from Netflix. However, upon further CAREFUL inspection by our user practicing individual accountability in cyber security - looking at the sender (red box) - the email was deleted immediately and disaster was averted.

Looks legit, don’t it?

Now if any of the links were clicked, guess what could rear its ugly head right back here in Middle Tennessee: RANSOMWARE

The lesson to be learned here is that ultimately cyber security starts with YOU & NOBODY ELSE!

We access sensitive information on the internet daily, but what can we do to protect ourselves on our devices? As you may notice, sensitive sites have “https://” in front of the URL address where all others have “http://”. The biggest difference is that unlike HTTP, a HTTPS connection to a bank’s network server in Murfreesboro and your device is encrypted; an encryption key between the device and the bank’s server is configured & agreed upon, and a handshake is made (GlobalSign).

This is all well & great, but what needs to be done on our end when accessing HTTPS sites?

Nothing.

In summation - cyber security starts with you! We must be vigilant in keeping ourselves safe on the internet - and this requires us to sometimes scrutinize common things like emails to make sure they are being sent by the proper sender (and not someone trying to steal our data). Further, securing our web traffic by making use of HTTPS websites goes a long way - so important in fact, that the Internet Security Research Group has started the Let’s Encrypt initiative to help every site better establish their credentials while serving internet clients - every site managed by CCI (including this one) uses an HTTPS certificate issued from Let’s Encrypt.

PROTIP:

If not sure then click “No” or “Cancel”

NEVER blindly click “Yes” or “Ok”

THIS WILL SAVE YOU