A Few Basic Email and Desktop Cybersecurity Tips

12 Jun A Few Basic Email and Desktop Cybersecurity Tips

I was just asked by a client about some email safety tips for their team. I wrote the points below and wanted to share them:

Just a few basic cybersecurity points from my experience:

Email safety:

1. Always check the email from whom the message is sent, e.g. double click the email and see that it is not some Gmail or Yahoo address with a fake, spoofed name
2. Always mouseover any links that are sent to ensure the hyperlink matches the text link/photo copy (photo that says login to a website) in the body of the email
3. NEVER open any attachments from anyone before checking that the above two, that the email matches, etc., and that the person writes/speaks like they normally do. If you are in question, send a text to the real person asking if they sent the email. Don’t reply to the email as the scammer/spammer may reply back trying to trick you
4. NEVER change payment information, wire information, etc., without speaking to the person by phone who is requesting it. Just a huge check to make sure you don’t wire money to a scammer.

File safety:

Also, another BIG one that I do is make all of my local folders Dropbox folders. (Windows: Go to your Dropbox folder and create a folder called, DesktopFolders, in that folder create: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos. Then, right click, e.g. the Documents Folder, Properties, Location, Move, then find the Documents folder you just created in Dropbox and press okay to move it there, move all data in the file, too. Do this for the other folders, e.g. Desktop, Music, Pictures, etc.) This way, if I lose my computer, or if I get ransomewared, I have my files backed up. You may need a paid Dropbox plan for this, but it is TOTALLY worth the $10/mo to have your files backed up. For offline data, we use Backblaze.com to back up massive amounts of data/entire hard drives. It is like $5/mo per computer, which allows unlimited backup space. We have one computer that has 20TB of information on it, videos from video shoots, etc., from over the years and it is all backed up to the cloud.

Just a few points that I do to make sure you don’t take the bait or lose your data.

-Tom Roman