Top Cybersecurity Tips for your Data Protection

Swarna Vats, IT Security Analyst shares some practical tips in our latest blog to help you increase your cybersecurity and protect your data online.

Every year since year 2003, October has been recognised as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) in the US but has since grown to be celebrated globally too. flydocs is using this opportunity to spread some awareness and provide a few tips on how to protect yourself from cyber threats.

In the last few months, the world became even more digitally connected and vulnerable than ever. And who other than cybercriminals can take this as bait to impersonate brands by misleading employees and customers, which can result in more infected computers and phones? In our own aviation industry, a few major airlines have fallen victim so we are starting to see a greater emphasis on strengthening online security from key industry players.

As part of this awareness month, we are educating our employees and wider aviation community on the importance of cybersecurity and providing training on how to stay aware and be safe digitally.

To start, here are a few practical tips you can start implementing today to protect yourself from cyber threats:

• Do not click on indirect links (in emails, text messages or WhatsApp), especially the ones are asking you to enter sensitive information. It is best to go directly to the source.
• Do not overshare on social media. These details can provide hackers with your location, ammunition to craft spear-phishing attacks, and answers to security questions. Think before you share!
• Do not go “out of bounds” for communication. For example, if you are buying something on eBay, and other party wants to negotiate via email instead of the bidding system.
• Never reuse passwords between any websites or service.
• Always be sceptical of any unexpected invoice, or request to get or pay for anything by using gift cards.
• It is ok to speak to (confirm with) an email sender’s request to transfer that $30,000 by the end of the day, even if it is your boss? Better safe than sorry.
• Know who to report any suspicious emails to at your workplace. Do not delete the email – report it.
• Invest in a secure password management tool – nobody has the time to remember all those passwords!
• Be vigilant with suspicious SMS messages. Your bank will NEVER ask you to access your account from an SMS.

Be safe, be aware and be smart!

If you would like to learn more about our flydocs cybersecurity framework, contact our team at [email protected]