SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Since 2004, October has been designated as Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
Twenty-one years later, the FBI Springfield Field Office uses Cybersecurity Awareness Month to teach individuals, the community, and businesses about how daily actions can minimize risks online.
“We live in a digitally connected world which comes with both convenience and adversity. One click can unravel your life—opening an email attachment, following a link, or making an online purchase—could expose you to cyber criminals,” said FBI Springfield Field Office, Special Agent in Charge, Christopher Johnson. “The FBI is the lead federal agency responsible for investigating cyberattacks, but no one entity can combat the threat alone. That’s why is it fundamentally important to the FBI to incorporate a public-private cyber collaboration approach, providing a better understanding of our adversaries and their motivations.”
The agency recommends the following steps for individuals as well as businesses:
Examine the email address in all correspondence and scrutinize website URLs. Scammers often mimic a legitimate site or email address by using a slight variation in spelling. Or an email may look like it came from a legitimate company, but the actual email address is suspicious.
Do not click the link in an unsolicited text message or email that asks you to update, check, or verify your account information. If you are concerned about the status of your account, go to the company’s website to log into your account or call the phone number listed on the official website to see if something does in fact need your attention.
Keep systems and software up to date and install a strong, reputable anti-virus program.
Be careful when connecting to a public Wi-Fi network and do not conduct any sensitive transactions, including purchases, when on a public network.
Create a strong and unique passphrase for each online account and change passphrases regularly.
Set up multi-factor authentication on all accounts that allow it.
Be suspicious of any message that urges immediate action.
Make online purchases with a credit card for an extra layer of protection against fraud.
Do not send money to any person you meet online or allow a person you don’t know well to access your bank account to transfer money in or out.
Don’t give a stranger who calls you on the phone remote access of your computer.
Scrutinize all electronic requests for a payment or transfer of funds.
Beware of sudden changes in business practices with vendors or customers.
For example: If a current business contact suddenly asks to be contacted via their personal email address when all previous official correspondence has been through company email, the request could be fraudulent.
Businesses should create an incident response plan that includes a relationship with your local FBI field office.
Take time to read consumer and industry alerts provided by the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s (IC3) 2023 Internet Crime Report, Illinois ranks 8th in the United States for the most complaints, and 7th in total victim losses at almost $335.8 million.
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