{"id":103498,"date":"2019-10-09T15:08:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T19:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=103498"},"modified":"2019-10-09T15:08:47","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T19:08:47","slug":"6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals"},"content":{"rendered":"

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office<\/a> wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information stored within. In honor of this year\u2019s theme of \u201cOwn IT, Secure IT, Protect IT,\u201d we\u2019ve put together a shortlist to help ensure your information is secure and protected.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Always use unique, strong passwords or passphrases for each account.<\/strong> This will limit the impact if one of your passwords gets compromised. Recent data breaches have shown the importance of using unique passwords for each account. Cybercriminals will attempt to use passwords obtained from one site to breach others. When setting up a new account, be sure the password you select is strong and different from others you have used in the past.<\/li>\n
  2. Wherever possible, set up <\/strong>multi-factor authentication<\/strong><\/a> on your accounts.<\/strong> Enabling MFA will require a second method to verify a user\u2019s identity after the password has been entered, making it more difficult for criminals to access your account if your password gets compromised. MFA can work via text message, hardware token, or through an authenticator app on a mobile device.<\/li>\n
  3. Don\u2019t click on links or open attachments in unexpected emails. <\/strong>Sender information on emails can be falsified, so it\u2019s important to confirm with the sender in person or via a trusted phone number.<\/li>\n
  4. Be careful when sharing personal information online.<\/strong> Cybercriminals will use whatever information they can find to try to impersonate you or compromise your accounts.<\/li>\n
  5. Avoid doing online banking or working with sensitive information when on public wireless networks.<\/strong> By using a VPN, you can protect your network traffic when you\u2019re connected to public Wi-Fi.<\/li>\n
  6. Make sure your devices are updated regularly.<\/strong> Most systems can be configured to install updates automatically. Ensuring your devices have the latest security patches can help prevent attackers from compromising your systems.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To learn more about each of these topics and hear from industry experts, check out the free 2019 Cybersecurity Expo<\/a>, which will be held Thursday, October 10, in the Pegasus Ballroom inside the Student Union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In honor of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, UCF\u2019s Information Security office offers tips on how to secure your online identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":103500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11806],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-103498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-cybersecurity"],"yoast_head":"\n6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-09T19:08:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura J. Cole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura J. Cole\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura J. Cole\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5d734e15ce871853fe48300612d968a1\"},\"headline\":\"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-09T19:08:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":348,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cybersecurity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/\",\"name\":\"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals | University of Central Florida News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-09T19:08:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5d734e15ce871853fe48300612d968a1\"},\"description\":\"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\",\"description\":\"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5d734e15ce871853fe48300612d968a1\",\"name\":\"Laura J. Cole\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf28d461937a2c29c43c10571546ec8fa5b5e03c4c2a398dae4813e0802c930?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf28d461937a2c29c43c10571546ec8fa5b5e03c4c2a398dae4813e0802c930?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf28d461937a2c29c43c10571546ec8fa5b5e03c4c2a398dae4813e0802c930?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura J. Cole\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/la086733\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\\\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"University of Central Florida\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals | University of Central Florida News","description":"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals","og_description":"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/","og_site_name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF","article_published_time":"2019-10-09T19:08:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Laura J. Cole","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UCF","twitter_site":"@UCF","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura J. Cole","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/"},"author":{"name":"Laura J. Cole","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5d734e15ce871853fe48300612d968a1"},"headline":"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals","datePublished":"2019-10-09T19:08:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/"},"wordCount":348,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg","keywords":["cybersecurity"],"articleSection":["Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2019","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/","name":"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals | University of Central Florida News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-09T19:08:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5d734e15ce871853fe48300612d968a1"},"description":"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the Information Security Office wants to help you better protect your accounts and the information","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","description":"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5d734e15ce871853fe48300612d968a1","name":"Laura J. Cole","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf28d461937a2c29c43c10571546ec8fa5b5e03c4c2a398dae4813e0802c930?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf28d461937a2c29c43c10571546ec8fa5b5e03c4c2a398dae4813e0802c930?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf28d461937a2c29c43c10571546ec8fa5b5e03c4c2a398dae4813e0802c930?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laura J. Cole"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/author\/la086733\/"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-cyber-criminals\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"University of Central Florida"}]}},"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2019\/10\/ucf-how-to-protect-your-online-identity-300x200.jpg","primary_category":6,"primary_tag":11806,"author_byline":"Michael Constantino \u201914 and Thomas Diaz","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103498"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103501,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103498\/revisions\/103501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103498"},{"taxonomy":"tu_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tu_author?post=103498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}