Tips To Stay Safe During Cybersecurity Awareness Month

New data shows a spike in cyber-attacks since the pandemic began, and now, experts are urging everyone to protect themselves.

As individuals and businesses become more active in the digital sphere, experts said it's easy to become more vulnerable to cyber scams and attacks.

The most common forms of cyber-attacks are phishing, hacking or ransomware attacks with these attacks being 31% of cases.

While most spam emails are screened out by your email provider, cybersecurity experts said every now and then, they'll make their way into your inbox.

These phishing scams can come in three different forms: voicemail, text or email.

“If it’s not something that you ordered, don’t click on the link. Look to see if it’s really Amazon or if the email address is another website like Gmail,” said Teresa Rule, an employee at R&T Cybersecurity in Oklahoma City. “Look to see if it’s a dot com or dot cm address, and understand that the suffixes on emails are tied to a certain organization or sender.”

An HP report shows there's been a 238% increase in cyberattacks during the pandemic.

Experts said in part, that's because more people are working from home.

Josh O’Mealey, director of information security at TTCU Federal Credit Union, said don’t give anyone permission to use your work computer.

“Don’t use public Wi-Fi. Use your hotspot capabilities. It’s more secure than trying to join a public hot spot,” O’Mealey said. “The public ones are an easy way for people to capture your data.”

Other ways to avoid ransomware attacks include making sure all your devices are updated and that your anti malware software is up to date.

If you think you've been a victim of an internet crime, click here to file a complaint.

If you are looking for a specific type of cybersecurity resource that is not listed on the website, please contact the Oklahoma Information Sharing and Analysis Center (OK-ISAC) at okisac@omes.ok.gov.