14 tips to protect your identity during Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. To help you keep your identity safe, the IT security team has provided these tips:

Don't fall for a phish 

1. The FBI, IRS, CIA, police, etc. do not call to ask for payments of any kind. This is a scam.
2. The phone number you see on your phone is likely not really where the call is coming from. Even if it says FBI, it is not them.
3. The FBI, IRS, etc. do not take iTunes or other gift cards. If you are being asked to pay for something with gift cards, it is a scam.
4. Never accept a job that requires depositing checks into your account or wiring portions to other individuals or accounts.
5. Phishing emails may look legitimate but often contain grammatical, punctuation and capitalization errors and improper tense.
6. Never send passwords via email.
7. If you didn't expect an email, reject it.
8. Hover over links sent to you before clicking them to see their source.
9. Closely read all URLs and be sure they are correct. Phishers find ways to misspell or insert extra characters into fake websites to make webpages appear legitimate.

Protect your identity

10. Always pause when asked to provide sensitive information like your username and password. Phishing emails typically direct you to a non-secure webpage and ask you to enter your username and password or to confirm, verify or refresh your account, Social Security number, credit card or billing information. Stop and think every time you are prompted for your password and confirm it is from a legitimate source.
11. As a best practice, do not provide sensitive details such as your Social Security number, bank location or deposit information in an email.
12. When in doubt about sharing your information, ask for help. Visit USI Public Safety or stop by the IT Helpdesk.
13. Microsoft or Apple will never call you to fix your computer or phone or ask for your credit card number.
14. Use different passwords across online accounts. This will protect you from having all accounts accessible if one account is phished or hacked.

Helpful links

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies Phishing Tip Sheet

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies Identity Theft and Internet Scams Tip Sheet

USI IT Safe Computing