Updates, passwords and two-step sign-in
Three of the four steps CISA lists in Secure Our World, set up once and kept up: updates on, a password manager, and multifactor authentication.
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Updates
Updates fix security holes as well as bugs. CISA's advice is not to delay them. Turn on automatic updates for the operating system, the browser and your apps, and restart when asked rather than postponing for weeks.
Only install updates from the device's own update settings or the official app store, never from a pop-up on a website.
Passwords
- Use a different password for every account. When one site leaks, the others stay safe.
- Make them long. A phrase of several unrelated words is long and easier to type.
- Let a password manager remember them. It creates and fills strong passwords, and you remember one strong main password.
Multifactor authentication (MFA)
MFA means using more than a password to get into an account: a code from an app, a text message, or a security key. Even if someone learns the password, they still cannot sign in. Turn it on first for email, banking and the account your phone or computer signs in with.
Never read an MFA code out to someone who calls you. A real company does not need it.
Keep your way back in
Set up the recovery options (a recovery phone number or email, and any recovery codes) for your main email account and keep the codes somewhere safe. Most other accounts reset through that email, so it is the key to everything.
Sources: Secure Our World (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)) · Update Software (CISA, Secure Our World) · Use Strong Passwords (CISA, Secure Our World) · Turn On Multifactor Authentication (CISA, Secure Our World)