October is Cyber Security Awareness Month (Cyber Month), and this year’s theme is “Step up your cyber fitness”. 

Cyber fitness is about the ability to identify, react and respond to online threats by taking small and easy steps. This year’s Cyber Month incorporates various tips and tools to help keep Canadians digitally safe and maintain their cyber resiliency long after October ends. From basic awareness of cyber threats and best practices, to the most effective tools to defend against cyber criminals, Cyber Month covers it all.

Step 1: Warmup

The best workouts always begin with a good warmup. Are you ready to step up your cyber fitness? The Government of Canada is helping Canadians work on their cyber fitness by teaching them how to build their cyber safety muscles. Test your cyber security strength by taking the Cyber Fitness Assessment or the Cyber Safe Checkup. 

Step 2: Account Workout

Here’s where the workout really begins. Work up a metaphorical sweat by doing the following:

• Use strong and unique passphrases, passwords and PINs
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Avoid phishing and social engineering scams

Step 3: Learning Self-Defence

Beat cyber criminals to the punch by defending your devices! Here are some ways you can keep your devices protected:

• Install anti-virus software
• use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• secure your home Wi-Fi

Step 4: Maintaining Muscle

Staying in good cyber shape means keeping on top of your security habits. Here are some ways you can automate your cyber safety:

• Use a password manager
• Enable automatic updates
• Backup your data

Step 5: Strength in Numbers

Share your motivation with the world! Be a coach for your family, friends and coworkers: 

• Talk about cyber security with older adults
• Teach kids about cyber threats
• helping your office get cyber safe

For more information visit https://www.getcybersafe.gc.ca/en/cyber-security-awareness-month. For a free cyber insurance review please call us today at 1-855-726-8627.