• Many scams prey on fear and worry to pressure you to act without thinking
  • "I need this right away
  • "If you don't respond immediately we will suspend your account."
  • "Your account has been hacked."
• Does this make sense?
  • Would this person really contact you?
  • Why would they ask you to do this?
  • Would they really be sending you this document?
• Ask questions (You can inquire with ITS via the Help Desk at https://ccsf.freshservice.com/)
• Verify
  • Call them back on a number you know or can look up (don't trust the contact info they sent)
  • Contact their secretary or administrative assistant
  • Go to their office to talk to them

• Stick to your favorite sites
• Use only major companies
• Do some research before going to an unknown site
• Only use https and not http, https is encrypted

• Use Strong Passwords
  • Is at least 12 characters long? The longer your password is, the better.
  • Uses uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special symbols. Passwords that consist of mixed characters are harder to crack.
  • Doesn't contain memorable keyboard paths. The letters a-s-d-f-g-h-j-k-l may seem random, but they are, in fact, just the keys straight down the line.
  • Is not based on your personal information:
    • Children's names
    • Pet's names
    • Home address
    • Memorable dates
• Use different passwords per site, so if you ever get compromised, it's only a single site.
• Don't write passwords down. Put them in a password manager instead. See the Cyber Security page for reviews and recommendations
• Don't share them with anyone
• Use a password manager

• Limit providing personal information as much as possible. Never give your password to anyone
• Don't share personal information with any untrustworthy sources

• For instructions, visit Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • CCSF offers this for employee e-mail and other systems (send a request via the Service Desk)

Antivirus prevents common malware on your computer. Use Microsoft Defender for Windows and XProtect for MacOS.

• Back up your data to trust cloud sources like OneDrive or Google Drive
• Back up your data to an external hard drive
• This is useful in case your hardware fails