3 Easy Ways to Protect Your Personal Information

October 15, 2018

As a part of our new Information Security program, our goal is to equip students and employees at Biola to recognize and respond to cyber security threats.

In honor of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, here are 3 easy things you can do right now to protect your personal information and stay safe online.

Turn on 2-Factor Authentication

2-Factor Authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of security to your account (if you’ve ever used online banking, you’re already familiar with 2-Factor Authentication). Currently, 2FA is the best defense against phishing attacks. Eventually, all Biola accounts will require 2-Factor Authentication. For now, you can start with your Biola Google account. Turning it on now will give you a head start.

Check Your App Privileges

Third party apps and services may have access to the data on your online accounts. If you’ve ever installed an app on Chrome or taken a Facebook quiz, you’ve probably clicked “Allow Access” without realizing what information you were giving away. Some of these apps are safe to use, but others are malicious and out to steal your data. Thankfully, most online services allow you to review your privacy settings and connected apps:

• Google Security Checkup
• Facebook Privacy Checkup
• Twitter Apps and Devices

Change Your Passphrase

This summer, nearly 100 Biolans accounts were compromised by attackers based in Russia. What happened?

If you have previously fallen victim to a phishing attack, or if you have ever used a web service that was compromised, those account credentials could be available to attackers.

Lists of compromised usernames and passwords are available on the Internet. Attackers who find or purchase a list of exposed credentials can use those credentials to propagate phishing, ransomware or other spam. If you’ve used the same password for a few years, you should go and change it now.