Key to a successful cybersecurity recipe: Strong and unique passwords

Welcome to Week 2 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! It is important to always use a unique password for each of your online accounts. Don’t reuse the same password across websites. If one of those sites gets compromised, hackers will try that password on other sites. No matter the account, all passwords should follow these preparation steps:

• The more characters you use the better (at least 12 characters)
• Never reuse passwords. Each account needs its own unique password.
• Use a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Some websites will even let you include spaces.
• Use a random password generator paired with a password manager for extra security.
• Look for this week’s Recipe for Cybersecurity poster on bulletin boards around campus.

Thank you for being the key ingredient in our recipe for cybersecurity success!

Don’t Get Burned by Scam Emails

• Emails that contain an offer that’s too good to be true
• Language that’s urgent, alarming, or threatening
• Poorly-crafted writing with misspellings and bad grammar
• Greetings that are ambiguous or very generic
• Requests to send personal information
• Urgency to click on unfamiliar hyperlinks or attachment
• Strange or abrupt corporate communications
• Sending email address doesn’t match the company it’s coming from

When you smell phish, report it immediately – or you might get burned. Report it to the LLCC Help Desk. Read more about Cybersecurity.

Look for this week’s Recipe for Cybersecurity poster on bulletin boards around campus. Thank you for being the key ingredient in our recipe for cybersecurity success!

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month — our chance to sharpen our cybersecurity skills, learn ways to avoid security threats and have some fun while we’re at it!

Starting next month, we’ll be serving up some tasty cybersecurity tips and resources to help you stay safe and secure, whether at work or home. Together, we’ll create the perfect recipe for cybersecurity awareness.

Learn more about it in this video.

If you have any questions about cybersecurity or spot something suspicious, ask us! We’re here to help, just contact the LLCC Help Desk, or call 217-786-2555. The Help Desk is located in Sangamon Hall, Room 1132 (outside of the Center for Academic Success/Library main entrance).

Look for a new Recipe for Cybersecurity poster on bulletin boards around campus each week during the month of October.

The second and final cybersecurity awareness training campaign for the LLCC 2023-2024 cyber training school year with Infosec IQ begins today, April 1. This campaign will run through April 30. This will entail six short training courses, including assessments for the last three. During the campaign, a series of simulated phishing emails will also be sent out. The training in this spring campaign will focus on: secure use of ChatGPT, updates and patches, automatic updates, data loss prevention, data destruction and using public Wi-Fi. The purpose of putting this training into place is to raise awareness of the threats in our environment and to avoid costly data breaches.

Everyone receiving the email is required to complete this training by April 30. Failing to comply may result in loss of LLCC network access privileges and disciplinary action per board policy “8.6 – Employee Discipline.” On April 1, you will be sent an email notifying you of enrollment in the course. The link provided in that email will take you directly to your Infosec dashboard to complete the training. The enrollment email will be coming from Infosec IQ Notifications <notifications@securityiq-notifications.com> with the subject “Start your security awareness training.”

The second and final cybersecurity awareness training campaign for the LLCC 2023-2024 cyber training school year with Infosec IQ begins today, April 1. This campaign will run through April 30. This will entail six short training courses, including assessments for the last three. During the campaign, a series of simulated phishing emails will also be sent out. The training in this spring campaign will focus on: secure use of ChatGPT, updates and patches, automatic updates, data loss prevention, data destruction and using public Wi-Fi. The purpose of putting this training into place is to raise awareness of the threats in our environment and to avoid costly data breaches.

Everyone receiving the email is required to complete this training by April 30. Failing to comply may result in loss of LLCC network access privileges and disciplinary action per board policy “8.6 – Employee Discipline.” On April 1, you will be sent an email notifying you of enrollment in the course. The link provided in that email will take you directly to your Infosec dashboard to complete the training. The enrollment email will be coming from Infosec IQ Notifications <notifications@securityiq-notifications.com> with the subject “Start your security awareness training.”

Geofencing blocks access to LLCC accounts outside of the United States. If you are traveling outside of the country and will need access to your LLCC account, please let the help desk know to have geofencing deactivated for the duration of your travel.

Most account attacks come from outside of the country. Geofencing is a good measure to block those attacks and reduce the number of compromise accounts.

IT Help Desk
helpme@llcc.edu
https://it.llcc.edu
217-786-2555

Level 4: Always enable multi-factor authentication.

Welcome to Level 4. No matter what you call it, multi-factor authentication, or MFA, is a security measure that requires anyone logging into an account to navigate a two-step process to prove their identity. By adding one more simple step when logging into an account, multi-factor authentication greatly increases the security of your account.

How it works: When logging into your account, you first provide your password or passphrase. Next, you will provide an extra way of proving that you’re you; this is typically done through:

• An extra PIN (personal identification number)
• An extra security question like, “What’s your favorite pet’s name?”
• An additional code, either emailed or texted
• A biometric identifier like facial recognition or a fingerprint
• A unique number generated by an “Authenticator App”
• A secure token is a separate piece of hardware (like a key fob that holds information) that verifies a person’s identity with a database or system

Look for this week’s Level UP poster on bulletin boards around campus for additional information.

Thank you for keeping LLCC off the cybercriminal’s leader board.

Level 3: Update Often

Welcome to Level 3. One of the easiest ways to keep your information secure is by making sure your software and apps are up-to-date. These updates fix general software problems and provide new security patches where criminals might get in.

Please Note: When downloading a software update, only get it from the company that created it. Hacked, pirated or unlicensed software versions often contain malware and cause more problems than they solve.

It is advised to turn on automatic updates. When there’s an update available, it will give you a reminder so that you can easily start the process.

Look for this week’s Level UP poster on bulletin boards around campus for additional information.

Thank you for keeping LLCC off the cybercriminal’s leader board.