Be cyber wise, don't compromise

October is Cyber Awareness Month. As we all continue to increase our online interactions and reliance on technology for everyday activities it's imperative that we take steps to protect ourselves and "be cyber wise – don't compromise."

As technology evolves and advances, cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated and harder to detect. Ransomware remains the most destructive cybercrime, the global cost of which is predicted to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. On average in the 2021/22 financial year, a cybercrime occurred every 7 minutes, with fraud, online shopping, and online banking accounting for 54 per cent of all reports.

The same steps we take to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of our business systems can be applied to your personal life. These are some simple steps you can take to improve your cyber security:

- use a strong passphrase for your password
- turn on multifactor authentication
- make sure automatic updates are turned on for your devices
- regularly back up your files
- watch out for scams.

It's important not to wait for something to happen, but to take proactive action to protect yourself online. The Australian Cyber Security Centre have advice for learning the basics of and maintaining cyber security.

Check how secure you are now.

Brisbane North PHN staff undertake regular self-paced security awareness training. Are you up to date with your cyber security training modules?