Cybersecurity
Four Easy Ways to Stay Safe Online
Avoid Phishing Scams
Phishing often tries to get us to open a harmful attachment or share personal information. They try to fool you into getting “hooked" by phishing attempts by making it seem legitimate. You can get these messages by email, text message, social media messages, or even phone call.
Staying safe can be simple with the following steps:
- RECOGNIZE and take your time when reading your messages and look out for these common signs of phishing:
- Urgent or emotionally appealing language
- Claims that only an immediate response will avoid dire consequences
- Requests to send or change personal and financial information
- Untrusted, shortened URLs
Incorrect email addresses or links, like amazan.com or c1tyofmadison.com
The City's external email banner that says the email didn't come from a City colleague
- RESIST selecting and opening any suspicious links or attachments.
- VERIFY the hyperlinks and senders.
- Hyperlinks: Hover over the link and check the address. Ensure the URLs begin with “https" and check the spelling.
- Trusted Senders: Search the sender's company and verify that the company details match. Or contact the sender in a different way, like by call, text, or meeting.
- REPORT and don't panic.
- If you have opened an attachment or clicked on a link: Don't Panic – It Happens. Please report the messages and all actions you took to the IT Service Center.
Report with the Outlook “Report" button
- DELETE the message.
- After reporting, delete it. Don't reply or click on any attachment or link, including any “unsubscribe" link.
Learn more in the Knowledge Base article Phishing – Recognize, Act, and Report.
If you are still unsure, forward the email to our Cybersecurity Team and they will review the message.
Use Strong Passwords
Using strong passwords and a password manager are some easy ways to protect against someone else logging into an account and stealing data or money.
Because you must change your password every 180 days, try using a theme for your passwords. Possible themes might include lines from plays, verses from your favorite poems, or refrains from your favorite songs. This way, your password will be easier for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.
Password Best Practices:
- Don't use personal information in your passwords.
- At least 16 characters long.
- Avoid using common words in your passwords. Instead substitute letters with numbers, punctuation, or symbols.
- Don't make it a single word.
- Get creative by using phonetic replacements or deliberate misspellings.
- Don't share or reuse passwords.
- Don't write it down where it could get misplaced and found by others.
- Consider using a password manager.
Learn more in the Knowledge Base article Managing Passwords, Passphrases, Locked Accounts.
Require Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) verifies a user's identity by requiring multiple (independent) authentication factors before granting access to accounts, applications, or systems; adding layers of protection beyond passwords. MFA combines two or more of the following types of factors at the City of Madison:
- Something You Know: A password, PIN, passkey, or security question.
- Something You Have: A mobile device, smart card, hardware token, or security key.
MFA enhances security by protecting against common attacks such as phishing, credential stuffing, and brute-force attacks because passwords alone are often insufficient as they can be stolen, reused, or guessed.
Learn more in the Knowledge Base article Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
Protect Your Digital Home
More and more of our home devices— including thermostats, door locks, coffee machines, and smoke alarms—are now connected to the Internet. This enables us to control our devices on our smartphones, no matter our location, which in turn can save us time and money while providing convenience and even safety. These advances in technology are innovative and intriguing; however, they also pose a new set of security risks. #BeCyberSmart to connect with confidence and protect your digital home.
Digital Home Security Best Practices:
- Secure your Wi-Fi network by changing the factory-set default username and password.
- Double your login protection by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Enable automatic updates to stay up to date on software and operating systems updates.
- Manage your apps and App permissions.
- Never share sensitive information online.
Learn more in the Knowledge Base article 5 Steps to Protecting Your Digital Home.
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Securing the Next 250
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month!
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) provide resources to help raise awareness and educate employees and organizations on the importance of cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month builds on past efforts to empower everyone to take core steps to protect against online threats and offers additional ways to help keep the nation's critical infrastructure secure against cyber threats. As we live in a highly connected world, with more sensitive information online than ever before, this convenience comes with risks. All organizations that are part of the nation's critical infrastructure and supply chain have an important role in cybersecurity.
Learn more about CISA “Securing the Next 250" campaign.