Cybersecurity and Cyberhygiene Clark Evans, ACB, CL
Cybersecurity Pew Research Center Cybersecurity Quiz Americans’ familiarity with cybersecurity concepts 1,055 took a 10-question survey Score: 10/10: 99th percentile Score: 9/10: 96th percentile Score: 8/10: 91st percentile Score: 7/10: 84th percentile Score: 6/10: 73rd percentile I’ll briefly present some good Cyber-Hygiene practices.
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks How many users are on your PC or laptop? Do they all have their own account? You don’t want your kids or grandkids to be able to wipe the machine out downloading the latest virtual reality game right that turns out to actually be malware right? Suggestions: Multiple Accounts with limited privileges Also secure the original Administrative Account by re- naming from “Admin” or “Root”. Protect all accounts with passwords
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks Authentication: Choose a Strong Password! Hacking threat (ex. Brute Force; social engineering) Always change default passwords (ex. factory) Password Strength Measures Length (ex. 8 characters) Complexity (UPPER; lower; 124; ##$*@!) Maximum age Minimum age History settings (re-use blocked for # generations) Account lockout after # of attempts Screen Lock activated? Re-entry of password required?
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks In addition to Passwords: Two-factor Authentication enhances security! Combines any of the below Authentication Factors Something you know Ex. Password Something you have Ex. Access Card; Fob Something you are Ex. Retina or fingerprint scan
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks Protect your data through encryption! Requires credentials/keys (password/PIN) to unscramble In Transit (Data Transmission Encryption) Internet: Is your browsing session encrypted? Ensure use of https:// protocol (not http:) when entering sensitive information! VPN: Dedicated/encrypted connection to a network via Internet Protected At Rest Enable BitLocker: Built in on Windows Vista and Later if you have: Professional version Enterprise version Other Endpoint Encryption applications McAfee Symantec Trend Micro
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks Firewalls Can block traffic by numerous properties “Problem” IP addresses and domains (ex. Robya.blind.com) Ports (Ex. Well-known TCP/UDP port numbers are associated with certain services. Ex. Port 80 = http) Other attributes (ex. content for some types of firewalls) Network-Based Protects an entire network from external traffic Also can use to make part of a network more secure Host-Based Protects host equipment only ex. Turn on Windows Firewall on your PC/laptop!
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks MAC Filters Can be used to restrict devices by their unique MAC Address Used on Access Points (ex. Wireless Router) May also be configured on firewalls SSID Broadcast (Wireless) Turn off your wireless SSID broadcast (Still possible to connect by typing SSID name)
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks If a potential attack does get through…. Common Attack types Malware (Spyware; Adware; Virus; Trojan Horse) Use Anti-Malware; Anti-Virus; Endpoint protection Phishing and Ransomware Watch for solicitation e-mails to click on links Often appear to be from someone you know/do business with Links within e-mail often direct user to a third party site Even clicking on the link can compromise data Some links lead to malicious sites (think Identity theft)
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks Patch (update) all computers/smart devices! Critical (non-optional) Operating System patches Application Patches Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware/Endpoint Protection Ensure definitions are updated when provider releases
Cyber-hygiene: Preventing Attacks Vulnerability Scans can identify security gaps Ex. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer Free tool downloadable from Microsoft Network-level scanners Nessus Qualys Retina
Further Reading For more information about Cybersecurity Awareness in the US as reflected in the study: http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/03/22/what- the-public-knows-about-cybersecurity/ Other sources of helpful hints: https://www.sans.org/tip-of-the-day https://www.cisecurity.org/resources/daily-tip/
Stay safe! Best of luck!