June was designated as National Internet Safety Month by the U.S. Senate in 2005 primarily to raise awareness of internet dangers and highlight the need for education about online safety. Since that time, with the rise of smartphones and other technologies, the amount of time people spend online has grown enormously – as have the risks.

As data from numerous studies have shown, the nation needs more education and training about the risks we face online and how to stay safe when using connected devices.

CISA recommends four simple things we can all do to help protect ourselves and others from online threats:

1. Use strong passwords. “Strong” means at least 16 characters, random, and unique to each account. Use a password manager to automatically generate, store, and fill in passwords for you.
2. Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA). MFA provides an extra layer of security in addition to a password when logging into accounts and apps, like a fingerprint, a code from an authenticator app, or a code sent to your phone. Enable it on any account that offers it, especially your email, social media, and financial accounts.
3. Update software. When devices, apps, or software programs notify us that updates are available, install them as soon as possible. Updates fix security risks to better protect our data. Turn on automatic updates to make it even easier.
4. Recognize and report phishing. Learn to recognize signs of phishing—messages designed to trick you into downloading malware (malicious programs) or giving personal information to a criminal. If an offer is too good to be true, it's probably social engineering. If the message is alarming and requires urgent action, it might be a phishing message.  Do not click or engage—report the phish and delete the message.

CISA offers a variety of free resources to implement these steps and spread the word to friends and family. The new cybersecurity awareness program Secure Our World provides many resources for improving online safety, such as short how-to videos on the four actions above, tip sheets in 10 languages, and more. Members are encouraged to pass this resource along to staff for security awareness reminders. For more information, visit CISA.