NCSA Guest Blogger's blog

When it comes to sharing personal information online, less is more.  The less you share, the more you can protect your privacy and minimize the chances of becoming a victim. 

When you work with sensitive data, no matter what field you're in, regular cyber security checks are a must. Practicing routine 'cyber hygiene' will help protect against spillage or loss of your sensitive data.

During the month of January, EDUCAUSE is expanding on Data Privacy Day to provide an entire month’s worth of activities and resources to help raise data privacy awareness in higher education. You can learn more about EDUCAUSE's free webinars in January by reading this guest blog post from Rodney Petersen of EDUCAUSE.

Signing up to receive alerts from your bank is a good way to prevent identity theft. One of the most convenient options is the mobile alerts, which sends a text message to the account holder when their account is charged. But what if that mobile text you got makes no sense or is confusing?

The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) has launched a national Cyber Security Pledge campaign to encourage citizens to declare their commitment to using good practices for staying safe on the Internet.

The online movement runs through October 31 and is one of the many activities underway in recognition of National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

The National Cyber Security Alliance is pleased to present a guest blog entry from Tracy Hulver of Verizon.

Millions of dollars are spent each year trying to protect business and government assets and networks from cyber attacks.  Time and resources are expended planning and implementing security policies, monitoring for malware and attacks, and developing contingency plans.  All of this is to help ensure that only the correct people and resources can access and manage authorized systems and data.  Yet, with all of this effort, unauthorized access and compromises still occur at an alarming rate.  Attacks are becoming more sophisticated and are increasingly surgical in their precision.  So if governments and corporations can’t stop breaches and theft of information, how can an ordinary person protect their identity and private information?

The NCSA is pleased to present a guest blog by Karen McDowell, Ph.D., Information Security Analyst for the University of Virginia.

Now that this unusually hot summer is coming to a close, you may be going back to school with a new computer, or you may be the parent of such a student. No doubt you know that you should install a good antivirus program. What more do you need to know? Ever heard of rogue antivirus? If you use a PC, you are particularly vulnerable to this pernicious attack.

The NCSA is pleased to present a guest blog by John Browne, VP Sales & Marketing of Wibu-Systems USA.

Reputable software publishers want you to use their software and recommend it to other people. This is why they spend money creating a quality product with good technical support.

Software counterfeiters have entirely different motives. They are doing something illegal, and you can’t trust them. Often, they will collect your personal details and sell them on, or try to sell you bogus products. The last thing they care about is customer satisfaction; instead, they make money by ripping you off. 

The NCSA is pleased to present a guest blog written by Jennifer Leuer, Senior Vice President of Experian Consumer Direct.

Whether you are traveling for work or pleasure, the last thing you want to think about is having your identity stolen. At Experian’s ProtectMyID, we wanted to better understand how travelers were putting themselves at risk and commissioned a survey to look into it. The survey results indicated that people often leave themselves open to unnecessary risk, but there are simple steps you can take to stay cyber secure while on the road.

The NCSA is pleased to present a guest blog written by AT&T's Chris Boyer of AT&T, who also serves as the NCSA Board Treasurer.

"One of the opportunities I have had in the past couple of years is to represent AT&T in the development of the recently launched STOP. THINK. CONNECT. cyber security awareness campaign.  STOP. THINK. CONNECT. is intended to do for cyber security what Smokey the Bear did for forest fire prevention or "Click it or Ticket" did for seatbelts.  The theme of the campaign is pretty simple - if we apply the same common sense we apply in the physical world in the virtual world we would all be safer online.