The holiday season can be stressful and hectic for many people. Cyber criminals know this and often increase their activity during this time of year. OSU Information Technology would like to provide a few awareness tips to help protect yourself this holiday season.

Be Cautious of Advertisements

When shopping online through a browser or a downloaded application, be cautious and aware that you are clicking on an advertisement from the direct store/business.  You wouldn’t go into a store with boarded up windows and without signage – the same rules apply online. If it looks suspicious, something’s probably not right.

Beware of Fake Delivery Notifications

If you receive a notification for an unexpected delivery (ex. from a store you didn’t place an order through, for a product you didn’t purchase, etc.) do not click the link unless you have confirmed the purchase is real.

Monitor Credit Card & Bank Account Activity

Be sure to keep an eye on your account transactions, balances, and statements. You can contact your bank/credit card company to turn on alerts regarding large purchase amounts or transactions made internationally. If you notice anything suspicious on your account, call your bank or card issuer immediately.

Additional Training

OSU Talent Development (talent.okstate.edu) has a more in-depth training session for holiday awareness tips. The name of the training is 'Hacked for the Holidays'.

Additional Account Security Tips

1. Implement multifactor authentication (MFA) on your account(s).

   • MFA will add a security blanket to your account which will make it much more difficult for hackers to access your account.

2. Use strong passwords, and ideally a password manager to generate and store unique passwords.

   • By using strong passwords, hackers will have a harder time breaking the code to access your account.

   • A password manager can be used to generate and store unique passwords.