October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month Published Oct. 23, 2012 By Airman 1st Class Jessica Keith 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- In today's society, technology is a large part of everyday life, people use computers and smart phones dozens of times a day to convey important information to others, however not everyone is aware of the safety measures needed to keep their information secure. This October marks the ninth annual Department of Homeland Security sponsored Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Here are a few simple steps service members can take to ensure the security of work-related information and personal assets when processing information on computers and phones. Social networking Learn about and use the privacy settings on social networking sites. Keep in mind the information posted is visible to everyone and never post information that could compromise anyone's safety. Remember the internet is backed-up in real-time so once something is posted, even if it is later deleted the information remains on the internet forever. This is especially important in a deployed environment and for dependents of deployed members who may use social media at home. Cell phones Only give your cell phone number to people you trust, and only text people you know in real life. Never text information that could compromise anyone's safety. Pictures and videos Do not take pictures or video of someone without receiving their permission and do not allow someone to take pictures or video of you without your permission. Remember they can be posted online for public viewing. Geotags Be aware of the possible dangers of geotaged photos, which have the location where the photo was taken saved into its associated data. Many phones and cameras automatically geotag photos and when they are posted online, anyone can easily find out where you live or what areas you visit often. Youths and the Internet Be aware of your children's activities online. Learn about parental controls and use them to monitor the websites your children visit and educate them about online safety. Make sure they understand the risks of using the internet and chat rooms. Software services Install automatically updating antivirus, firewall and antispyware software. These can often be found in a comprehensive package known as a security suite. Use only trusted, reliable brands. Emails Only open e-mails from people you know and trust. Every day, there are new scams out there meant to trick users into opening a virus or some other kind of malware. Recently, a woman with ties to Goodfellow nearly became victim of an email scam. While looking for a car online, she was contacted by a person claiming to be in the military. There were several indicators that this was false. For instance, he provided conflicting information that implied he was part of several branches of the Armed Services, and there were shopping ads at the bottom of his emails. He also claimed he could send the car directly to the base at a much lower cost than the vehicle would normally cost. Luckily she was able to contact the Wing's Antiterrorism Officer who further investigated the email traffic, which resulted in dicovering the email was a scam. Before that, she had every intention of going through with the transaction. She would have lost a great deal of money. The lesson- always be suspicious of deals that appear too good to be true because they probably are. OPSEC Always guard information that could potentially compromise operational security, this includes information on your init or the wing critical information list as well as any Four Official Use Only documents. If you receive compromising information, immediately report it to the OPSEC Coordinator and up the chain of command. Cybersecurity has never been as important as it is in today's society. Technology is involved in nearly every aspect of our lives and cybersecurity awareness must be a priority. For social networking security training visit http://iase.disa.mil/eta/sns_v1/sn/launchPage.htm, or contact a unit OPSEC Coordinator for more information.
