Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month in North Carolina to recognize the ongoing importance of online safety, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which brought historic devastation to the state.
“Storms like Helene offer prime opportunities for cybercriminals looking to take advantage of others during a crisis situation when they may have their guard down,” Governor Cooper said. “Every North Carolinian must remain vigilant about staying safe online and protecting their personal information.”
Scammers can pose as official representatives of disaster aid organizations or charities and use phishing emails, social media messages, texts and phone calls to obtain personal and financial information and access devices and networks that hold sensitive data. Be careful with any messages that include hurricane-related subject lines, attachments or hyperlinks.
“Our department continues to emphasize the importance of cybersecurity education and awareness,” said N.C. Department of Information Technology Secretary and State Chief Information Officer Jim Weaver. “We are committed to ensuring that everyone can access the internet safely and guard against cyberthreats, which can happen to anyone at any time.”
Here are some ways you can protect yourself, your family and your workplace from online threats:
- Recognize, resist and delete phishing attempts. Do not click links or open attachments in suspicious messages. Always double check web and email addresses to make sure they are legitimate. If you think the message could be real, look up another way to contact the company or person directly to verify.
- Avoid sharing personal information. Don’t send sensitive information such as passwords, account numbers and Social Security Numbers over email, text or chat.
- Make passwords long, random and unique. Strong passwords should be at least 16 characters and include a random string of mixed-case letters, numbers and symbols. Use a different strong password for each account. Password managers can generate strong passwords and remember them for you.
- Enable multifactor authentication for every account or app that offers it. Multifactor authentication requires you to enter more information than just a password, such as a text code or fingerprint.
- Update software. Make sure your devices are running the latest version of operating systems, software and web browsers. When notified about updates, be sure to install them as soon as possible or turn on automatic updates to install updates without any input as soon as they are available.
The N.C. Department of Information Technology, along with other state, local and federal partners, works to protect North Carolina’s government IT systems, data and assets against cyberthreats.
In addition, NCDIT’s Division of Broadband and Digital Equity has launched a series of grant programs that have awarded $44 million to date to ensure North Carolinians can access and afford high-speed internet, obtain digital devices and safely and effectively navigate today’s digital world.
NCDIT will share tips and information on social media using hashtags #SecureOurWorld and #CyberSecureNC throughout the month. More information about online safety is available at it.nc.gov/CyberSecureNC.
Read the proclamation.