Keep your work and personal data separate

It’s October, so you know what that means: a chill in the air, sipping hot tea in your cozy sweater, and becoming skilled in all things cybersecurity! 

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is back and we’re excited to test your knowledge again and share helpful tips to protect your data. With all the latest news about Social Security hacking, artificial intelligence (AI), and a little error that caused a worldwide outage, what do you know about IT security? 

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If you’re one of our top scorers, you could be eligible for a prize! The deadline to take the quiz is Oct. 18, and winners will be contacted by Oct. 25.   

This week’s tip: Keep your work and personal data separate

It might be tempting and seem efficient, but it’s important to keep your work and personal files and accounts separate. Mixing your WCM and personal data opens you to various cybersecurity risks: 

• Don’t reuse passwords: If you use the same password for WCM and personal accounts, one account getting compromised means your others are at risk, too. Create unique and strong passwords for all of your accounts. 

• Check work accounts from work devices: It’s best practice to access your WCM accounts from tagged devices, which have security features installed on them. Hackers attack personal accounts, like email and social media, all the time, and accessing those accounts from your work devices opens our network up to potential threats.   

• Keep confidential data secure: Accessing work files from a personal device, especially confidential data protected by HIPAA, FERPA, and other regulations, could compromise the privacy of patients, students, staff, and others. Stick to your protected work devices when working with sensitive information. 

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an annual collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure we have the resources you need to maintain your security online. Throughout October, we’ll be sending you tips on protecting your information and avoiding malicious attempts to extract your personal data. Visit its.weill.cornell.edu/cybersecuritymonth for more info.