Welcome to National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (“NCSAM”) – Week 3! Please be reminded of the following-
Please visit the Security Awareness web page for:
- A listing of information security related events (please check back regularly for updates)
- Short videos on security awareness topics. Don’t miss your chance to win 2 free movie tickets this month by watching the video of the week and taking the associated Security awareness quiz.
- The quiz associated with the week 3 video “Password Safety” is now live on the site!
- Last but not least, the web page contains links to information security related articles and resources.
The following are some of the key findings and fun facts from a Pew Research Center ten question survey on digital topics, conducted this year. The survey had 4,272 adult participants who were all living in the U.S.
Notably, three questions were answered correctly by a majority of participants.
- 67% know that phishing occurs across multiple platforms
- 63% understand that that cookies are text files that allow websites to track user site visits and activities
- 59% know that advertising is the largest source of revenue for most social media sites
However, areas of challenge include:
- 28% of participants were able to identify an example of 2FA, which functions as an important protection on personal and sensitive accounts. Specifically, participants were asked to select what represented 2FA, and the selections included:
- a reCAPTCHA image with words you need to retype
- a request to confirm a security image and keyword before entering your password
- a security prompt that asks “who was your childhood best friend”
- a login requesting a username, password,and six digit code (correct choice!)
- 30% of participants knew that a site beginning with “https://” means that information sent to the site is encrypted. Incorrect guesses included:
- 1% said that “https:” signified the content was safe for children
- 2% said that “https://” signified that the site is only accessible to those in certain countries
- 12% said that “https://” signifies that a site has been verified as trustworthy
- 24% of participants knew that “incognito mode” or “private browsing” hides online activity from other users of the same computer. Other participants didn’t realize that activity may be captured/visible to websites, the internet service provider and employers.