Cybersecurity for Older People

In the Asheville-Metro, Western North Carolina area; what are the resources to help educate the older generation on topics of cybersecurity?

Your Email is Like a Social Security Number

At a recent Montreat College Cybersecurity luncheon it was mentioned that your email has become as important as your social security number.  Like your SSN, it provides a unique identifier for all individuals.

Consider using a different email address for contest, grocery store, and other low priority / non-financial online sites.

An email address is now almost required for all job-related processes.  Ensure it is professional like first.last@provider.com.  Don't show your age with @aol.com or @hotmail.com email suffixes.  @gmail.com and @outlook.com email suffixes are free to add to your online toolkit.

Your Password is Key

Passwords are a necessity to remember for many online resources including email and other cloud storage assets. 

How do you manage this important key? 

Please ensure that your password is unique for each online resource.  Additionally, your password should be longer and more complex for financial-related online tools. 

Password Management

Manage your unique email/password combinations with tools like:

• Last Pass
• 1 Password
• Key Pass

Many password managers can also store WiFi and other Internet-Of-Things (IoT) related details.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/cybersecurity-why-more-needs-to-be-done-to-help-older-people-stay-safe-online/