Tips on staying cautious during Cybersecurity Awareness Month | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #ransomware

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – There are many ways to stay secure online.

Keesler Federal Credit Union says it starts with identifying potential threats.

“Getting out in the community and educating around behaviors and simple tips that people can do to protect themselves, their accounts, and their families is really what this month is all about for us,” Information Security Director Stefanie Moran said.

Moran says scammers are making it harder to identify, and AI has helped thieves appear a little less artificial.

“10 years ago, even eight years ago, it was easy to say look for a misspelling or look for bad grammar when you were looking to identify what was a scam, or look for those red flags,” she said. “Now with AI, the criminals are able to make those look insanely more believable and realistic.”

The credit union is urging people to pay more attention to behavioral activity.

“If someone is trying to enhance a sense of urgency, tell you to rush, or if someone is trying to make it a situation where there is secrecy, and you’re not able to reach out to others,” Moran said. “Those are more of the red flags that we’re helping people look for now.”

Moran suggests having two-step verification for your email, bank account and social media accounts, which she calls “The Big Three.”

If a request feels off or rushed, it may be someone trying to access your earnings.

“If someone is reaching out to you and they’re asking for unusual forms of payment like a gift card, or a lot of times they’ll get you with the p2p apps on the marketplace. ‘I’m going to send you this amount of money if you send this much back,’ things like that,” Moran said.

Moran says you can learn more about cybersecurity and fraud through their website.

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