News/Features

Carry message of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month forward

by 1st Lt. Brice Tucker

6th Communications Squadron officer in charge plans and projects

This October marked the third year of the “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart” overall theme for the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

The theme’s main objective is to charge individual users and organizations to do their part in defending their cyber assets. With everyone’s involvement, we can better secure our accounts, networks, and systems from malicious threats.

Each week of the month presents a different topic starting with October 4, “Be Cyber Smart.”

With almost every part of our lives connected to technology, our data has become invaluable. In recent years, data has become widely known as the world’s most valuable resource surpassing oil, which is the prime reason why cybercriminals work tirelessly to get their hands on it.

According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. is approximately $4.24 million, with 20% of the violations caused by compromised credentials.

To keep our information safe, we must use the best security practices in every aspect of cyber, including strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, data backups and software updates.

When it comes to our account passwords, it is most of the time not the strength of the passwords that lead to account compromise, but the frequency that a particular password is used.

In a study, Google found that more than 65 percent of people use the same password across multiple accounts, if not all, sites requiring one.

The more stunning statistic is that LogMeIn, a technology company based in Boston, learned that more than 91percent of individuals know

See CYBERSECURITY, Page 14

Photo by Master Sgt. Winella Rivera

Cyber-awareness team members from the 6th Communications Squadron, MacDill Air Force Base pose for a photo Oct. 19. The cyberawareness team disseminated the latest cybersecurity best practices and relevant cybersecurity information throughout the 6th Air Refueling Wing, briefing at various squadrons and events during the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month observed in October. From left are cybersecurity technicians, Airman 1st Class Zachary Reed, Airman Edward Harris, Airman 1st Class Chauntel Johnson, along with Staff Sgt. Eduardo Contreras, information systems security manager.

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