{"id":7446,"date":"2022-02-26T00:18:07","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T17:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/?p=7446"},"modified":"2022-03-08T10:08:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T03:08:39","slug":"keep-you-and-yours-cyber-secure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/keep-you-and-yours-cyber-secure\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep You and Yours Cyber Secure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Keep You and Yours Cyber Secure\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OKujvQKg70o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Video by Nathan Lu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Story by Pete Ramirez<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>The prominent role the internet plays in our world has highlighted an issue we\u2019ve been dealing with since the creation of the internet: cybersecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Every few months there is a new headline in the news about a prominent company or government organization that has been hacked such as the large-scale <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/solarwinds-hack-explained-government-agencies-cyber-security-2020-12\">Solarwinds breach<\/a> or the massive <a href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/twitch-says-malicious-third-party-was-behind-hack-1847815516?_ga=2.166040829.273043766.1645734860-313868.1645734860\">Twitch data dump<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Understanding that our ever-connected lives won\u2019t be unplugging from the internet anytime soon, a few Austin Community College students and faculty are doing what they can to educate those around them about the many threats that are lurking online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cMore of our learning has moved onto the internet,\u201d Austin Community College student and Phi Theta Kappa honors society officer, Arden Silva said. \u201cChildren are being exposed to the internet at a much younger age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tAlya Mansoor, another ACC student and PTK officer, said that she works with young kids and has often witnessed them unknowingly download malware and ruin whatever technology they are using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lot of what I see is kids being impacted and easily influenced by the technology, entertainment, and media out there,\u201d Mansoor said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to educate people about the dangers of the web and promote healthy cybersecurity habits, PTK\u2019s Honors in Action committee created a convenient, accessible <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/g.austincc.edu\/ptk-cybersafety\/home\">website<\/a> that contains eye-catching PDFs filled with tips and guides to keep you safe online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote is-style-default\" style=\"border-color:#1a1a1a\"><blockquote class=\"has-text-color has-dark-gray-color\"><p>\u201cI hope that we can at least bring some awareness to these kids and help them in navigating their own lives through the technology that is available to them.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Alya Mansoor, Austin Community College student and Phi Theta Kappa officer<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe researched in the spring and we found out that kids are being taught cyber security in school but that is not really being enforced at home,\u201d ACC student and PTK officer Isabella Santos said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tThe PTK members believe their new website will be a reinforcement tool that parents can utilize to help their families stay protected in the ever-expanding digital world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cI hope that we can at least bring some awareness to these kids and help them in navigating their own lives through the technology that is available to them,\u201d Mansoor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> All of the recommendations that are found on PTK\u2019s cybersecurity website are not only for children. Adolescents and adults can benefit from adopting the practices as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tAn ACC faculty member that is doing his part to spread the gospel of safe online practices to all ages is Dr. Michael MacLeod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tMacLeod is a professor working in the computer science department who has a background in cybersecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cI was in information technology for 35 years,\u201d MacLeod said. \u201cI built the fourth-largest state-owned network in the state of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tHaving seen how digital threats have evolved and increased frequency over the years, MacLeod said that most people don\u2019t understand that we\u2019ve been in serious cyber warfare since the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cEvery day [hackers] get better,\u201d MacLeod said. \u201cSo every day, our people have to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tFor those that are interested in entering the world of cybersecurity, MacLeod encourages learning as much as you can and exposing yourself to groups that work in this field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tWhen it comes to the average internet user who may not know the ins and outs of cyber security, MacLeod recommends purchasing a full suite internet security tool like Kaspersky, Norton, or Bitdefender to protect your devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cYou\u2019ve got to have something in place to protect yourself,\u201d MacLeod said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ACC professor also said that everyone should use caution with the apps that are downloaded onto their devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery one of those free software apps tracks every single thing you do,\u201d MacLeod said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Improving cybersecurity habits may seem overwhelming but there are many trusted tools and resources available to the average consumer to use to defend themselves from threats on the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so easy to get caught up in the quickness of the internet but investing in cybersecurity knowledge and skills is beneficial not only to you but others around you,\u201d Mansoor said.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video by Nathan Lu Story by Pete Ramirez The prominent role the internet plays in our world has highlighted an issue we\u2019ve been dealing with since the creation of the internet: cybersecurity. Every few months there is a new headline in the news about a prominent company or government organization that has been hacked such [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4103,"featured_media":7469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1130,12,23],"tags":[38,1242,1310,100,1307,1312,1314,1306,1311,1313,1195,470,1189,1308,1309],"class_list":["post-7446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-support","category-news","category-technology","tag-acc","tag-alya-mansoor","tag-arden-silva","tag-austin-community-college","tag-cybersecurity","tag-dr-michael-macleod","tag-hackers","tag-honors-in-action","tag-isabella-santos","tag-nathan-lu","tag-pete-ramirez","tag-phi-theta-kappa","tag-ptk","tag-solarwinds","tag-twitch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}