Cybersecurity Awareness Month: How to protect yourself from cyberattacks

CHICAGO (WLS) — Many adults and children have online access from their laptops, tablets or phones, making cyberattacks much easier.

That’s why experts say it’s so important to be vigilant when it comes to cyber safety.

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October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Professor Calvin Nobles from the Illinois Institute of Technology joined ABC7 to talk more about ways to protect yourself online.

Nobles discussed some common misconceptions about cybersecurity and what steps people should take to best protect themselves. He also talked about how often people need to take those measures.

Nobles additionally shared what he sees as the biggest trends or emerging threats, along with his advice for people who think they’ve been hacked or had their information compromised.

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Here are some general tips:

If a link looks a little off, think before you click. It could be an attempt to get sensitive information or install malware.

Don’t delay. If you see a software update notification, act promptly. Better yet, turn on automatic updates.

Use passwords that are long, unique, and randomly generated. Use password managers to generate and remember different, complex passwords for each of your accounts. A passwords manager will encrypt passwords securing them for you!

You need more than a password to protect your online accounts, and enabling Multi-Factor Authentication makes you significantly less likely to get hacked.