• Password Guidance

    Federal Trade Commission

    Telework Best Practices

    Device Sanitizing Recommendations Provided by Microsoft

    Technology Best Practices

    • Keep antivirus files and windows patches up to date.  
    • Do not open email attachments you are not expecting.  Do not click on ANY links in emails.  If you do not know where the attachment came from or you are not expecting it DO NOT Click or OPEN.   
    • Report any suspicious emails by clicking on the 3 dots on the right of email, Report Message then Phishing. This will report the message to Microsoft. 

    report

    •  Never send confidential information in an email.  Never send tax forms, or financial information through email, even to yourself. This information can be easily intercepted by outsiders.   
    • Never respond to emails that request personal financial information. 
    • Log out or lock your screen (CTRL+ALt+Del) when away from your workstation.  
    • Do not allow your browser to save your passwords. There are several safe password managers (Bitwarden, LastPass)
    • Use strong passwords. Uppercase letters with numbers, at least 10 characters and symbols.  
    • Never share your password. It is a gateway for resetting many passwords, and therefore the key to your online identity! 
    • Backup, backup, backup... and keep backup devices disconnected from the computer, to avoid loss of files due to Ransomware. 
    • Report any suspicious activity.  Change your password if you suspect any activity on your accounts.
    • Never provide personal information in social media, games, etc., that you also provide in challenge/response questions for programs that allow you to reset your password. An example would be games on Facebook that ask for response questions. When someone posts questions with personal responses, they are giving away keys to a hacker’s easy access to their security answers. Do not do this! The questions you are answering are personal to you! 

    💡Always remember you cannot educate yourself enough on security. Stay up to date on the latest security information. You never want to put yourself or anyone in a situation that could cause data loss, identity theft, etc.