Welcome! Thank you for joining us today to learn about how you can stay secure online. We’ll walk you through a simple yet important action that will help you to protect yourself online. Let's get started.

Installing software updates on all of your internet-connected devices is one of the easiest and most effective ways to stay secure online. An internet-connected device is anything you use to connect to the internet, including your phone, tablet, computer or laptop, smart watch, gaming console and even your TV. Software updates fix weaknesses or gaps in your devices’ or apps’ security. If you don’t install software updates as soon as they are available, it could be easier for cybercriminals to access your devices and personal information. That is because cybercriminals can target devices and apps that are using old software where known security vulnerabilities have not been fixed. To make sure you never miss an update, you can turn on automatic updates on most devices. You can do this in your devices’ settings or on the app store for app updates.

Now it’s your turn. Open your device settings, for example, on your phone or laptop, and locate ‘software update’. This may be listed as ‘system update’ or another similar term. If an update is available, download and install it. While you’re there, turn on automatic updates if they aren’t on already. Pause the video to action any outstanding updates. Your device will now notify you when an update is available. Be sure to install all software updates as soon as you are prompted. Avoid delaying it. Repeat these steps for all your internet-connected devices. Installing software updates as soon as they are available will help keep your online accounts secure.

This simple action makes a big difference in protecting you, your family and your community. 

 Cyber safety doesn’t end here. Visit the website Act Now. Stay Secure(Opens in a new tab/window) to learn more great tips for staying secure online.

Welcome! Thank you for joining us today to learn about how you can stay secure online. We’ll walk you through a simple yet important action that will help you to protect yourself online. All you will need is your internet-connected device, a pen and a piece of paper. Let’s get started.

Use a unique and strong passphrase on every account.

You probably know what a password is, but what are passphrases? Passphrases are more secure versions of a password, made up of a sequence of random words. Instead of using a short and predictable password, like your pet’s name and birth year, for example ‘george1998’, a strong passphrase might look like ‘crystal onion clay pretzel’. Passphrases should be easy for you to remember, but by being long and different on every account, they are hard for cybercriminals to guess and gain access to your accounts.

Here’s how to build strong passphrases

• Use four or more random words.
• Make it 15 characters or more.
• Include symbols, capital letters or numbers if required by the website or service.
• Avoid using personal information in your passphrases, such as names of your family members, pet names, birth dates and addresses, as these can be found online.
• And lastly, use a different passphrase for every account.

This is important because if you reuse the same passphrase and one account gets compromised, all of your other accounts with the same passphrase become vulnerable to being accessed by cybercriminals.

Now it’s your turn to create a passphrase. Grab your internet-connected device or a piece of paper and write down four random words. Make sure the passphrase you create does not include personal information that can be found online and is unique to this account. Take a moment to create your new passphrase. Repeat these steps to create different passphrases for each of your online accounts. Having a unique and strong passphrase on every account will help keep all of your online accounts secure.

This simple action makes a big difference in protecting you, your family and your community.

Cyber safety doesn’t end here. Visit the website Act Now. Stay Secure. to learn more great tips for staying secure online.

Welcome! Thank you for joining us today to learn about how you can stay secure online. We’ll walk you through a simple yet important action that will help you to protect yourself online. Let’s get started.

Today’s tip is for you to remember to always set up multi-factor authentication where available. Multi-factor authentication, also known as MFA or two-factor authentication, is where you need two or more ways to verify your identity to log in to your account. For example, when you sign in to your account, after entering your password or passphrase, you may be asked to enter a code which could be sent to you through an authenticator app, email or text message.

Multi-factor authentication makes your account more secure and hard for cybercriminals to access. Even if someone gets your password or passphrase, they can’t log in without the second authentication method being provided. Whenever you see the option to turn on multi-factor authentication, be sure to do it.

Now it’s your turn. Review all your online accounts and turn on multi-factor authentication. You may find this in your account settings if it’s available. Follow the instructions given by the account provider to add a second verification method, usually your phone number or an authenticator app. Take a moment now to set up multi-factor authentication on your online accounts where available.

Multi-factor authentication will help keep your online accounts secure. This simple action can make a big difference in protecting you, your family and your community. 

Cyber safety doesn’t end here. Visit the website Act Now. Stay Secure to learn more great tips for staying secure online.