Hello fellow Panthers, and happy week 3 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  Last week we discussed the importance of having a strong password along with some tips and tricks for improving the quality of your password. This week we want to talk about how to keep your password safe.

What is one of the most commonly used steps that websites use to help protect your account?  Give up?  The answer is “security question”.  Security questions are just as important as a strong password as they act as a secondary line of defense for your password.  The bad guys can use this information to access your online account just as easily as if they had your password information.

Here are some tips for reducing your online footprint:

  • When setting up security questions, use more obscure answers that can not be easily guessed by another person.
  • Do not create passwords that have personal information in them.
  • MOST IMPORTANTLY, DO NOT give away any information regarding the answers to your password or security questions.

Below is a great example of how easy it is for someone to get you password information.  This video was filmed by the Jimmy Kimmel show, and although it may be comical in nature, it is important to be mindful of what you share on social media and do not use what is already shared as passwords or security questions.