{"id":51711,"date":"2025-10-28T08:21:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/?p=51711"},"modified":"2025-10-28T08:21:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:21:54","slug":"cybersecurity-awareness-month-6-ways-to-outsmart-cybercriminals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/2025\/10\/28\/cybersecurity-awareness-month-6-ways-to-outsmart-cybercriminals\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity Awareness Month: 6 Ways to Outsmart Cybercriminals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Message from: ACC InfoSec Department<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Austin Community College\u2019s (ACC) InfoSec Department shares 6 top tips that will help you defend yourself against cybercriminals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Use strong passwords<\/strong> – Create strong and unique complex passwords across ALL your accounts. Never reuse passwords.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)<\/strong> – This is an extra layer of security. If hackers get hold of your username and password, they still need your MFA to get into your account.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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      1. Update your software<\/strong> – Do not snooze those pop-ups reminding you that there is a new software update available. These are important to patch any vulnerabilities in your hardware or software.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. Think before you click<\/strong> – Phishing continues to be the top strategy in every cybercriminal\u2019s playbook. They flood your inbox with emails containing malicious links or attachments. Always think twice and verify the sender.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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          1. Use public Wi-Fi with caution<\/strong> – We recommend avoiding the use of public Wi-Fi at caf\u00e9s, shops, or restaurants when possible. A safe alternative is to use your phone\u2019s hotspot. If there are no alternative options, consider steering away from accessing sensitive information or performing transactions while online.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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            1. Lock your devices<\/strong> – Keep your devices safe, especially in public places or when you are quickly walking away. A cybercriminal can very quickly install malware on an open computer. This can lead to identity theft, fraud, or unauthorized file manipulation. A locked screen is a safe screen.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              For more tips, email the ACC Student Help Desk at helpdesk@austincc.edu<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>
              <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              A Message from: ACC InfoSec Department As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Austin Community College\u2019s (ACC) InfoSec Department shares 6 top tips that will help you defend yourself against cybercriminals.  For more tips, email the ACC Student Help Desk at helpdesk@austincc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":51712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[886,437,633],"class_list":["post-51711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-for-you","tag-computer-science","tag-cybersecurity","tag-information-technology","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}