IC University Blog

Did you know that the average person uses the same three to seven passwords to log in to over 170 online accounts? In addition to being reused, these passwords are often weak and can be easily guessed by cybercriminals. If cybercriminals guess these passwords, they could access the majority of their victim’s online accounts. Even worse, the victim may not know that their password has been compromised for several months or years. To keep your passwords squeaky clean and safe from cybercriminals, follow the tips below:

Protect Your Personal Information

You probably use URLs every day to access important websites such as your email inboxes, online banking accounts, and social media profiles. Unfortunately, cybercriminals can use URLs to direct you to malicious websites, to steal your personal information, or to initiate downloads of malware onto your devices. It’s important to always think before you click so that you can protect yourself and your organization from cyberattacks.

Large-scale cyberattacks make the news, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Cybercrime is on the rise, and most attacks go unreported. The University of Maryland found that there is an average of 2,244 cyberattacks per day, which is one every 36 seconds. The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) reported that small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB) are being targeted at an increased rate. Even 43% of SMB lacks a cybersecurity defense plan. The US Federal Trade Commission, in a recent 6-month period, had seen over 128,000 phone-based fraud scams that cost victims a whopping $108 Million – that’s only half a year! We often assume cybercrime only happens to someone else, but hackers know the easiest way to get to your organization’s information is through YOU!