Up-To-Date Software Just One Way To Better Cybersecurity

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Eric Brown serves as the assistant director at Tennessee Tech’s Cybersecurity Education, Research, and Outreach Center (CEROC). He said the most effective way to protect oneself against ransomware attacks–using a little common sense.

“Keep them up to date those little software updates are there for a purpose,” Brown said. “And the other thing, if folks would do this it would be an amazing change. For their social media accounts, banking accounts, other accounts, if they would turn on two-factor authentication.”

Brown said a new issue that has arisen since the pandemic is the blurring between work and home. He said that many people don’t realize the difference in the protection they have in their home compared to the office, and sensitive files tend to be more vulnerable.

Brown said making sure office employees have a solid foundation of cybersecurity education is a good way to prevent ransomware attacks as well.

“Let’s do some common sense things like a two-factor authentication, like keeping our software up to date,” Brown said. “Like making sure if we’re a company, to make sure that our set up, we are doing all the right things we need to be doing.”