S5, E223 - Click Smart: Avoid These 4 Cyber Pitfalls

Imagine having just one key for every lock in your house—sounds handy, right? But when it comes to your online security, this convenience could lead to disaster. Join me, Cameron Ivey, as we navigate the treacherous waters of online safety during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, with a special spotlight on the simple yet powerful habit of password management. Fresh from my whirlwind travels to PSR in Los Angeles and a corporate retreat in Santa Rosa, I’m back, a little under the weather but eager to share insights that could safeguard your digital life. 

This episode of Privacy, Please is your ticket to understanding the common mistakes we all make, like reusing passwords—and how to avoid falling into these traps. I’ll introduce you to the world of password managers, which can transform the way you protect your online accounts without causing a headache. Expect a light-hearted yet informative discussion packed with practical advice to boost your digital security. Whether you’re a seasoned listener or new to the show, there’s something here for everyone to learn about keeping their online presence secure.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

All righty then. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Privacy, please. I am your host, cameron Ivey, and I am back Back like the I don't know, I'm blank. I'm so blank right now. I want to first of all apologize to the listeners. Things have been a little difficult to record these last few weeks. I've been traveling a lot. I've been, you know, just to update everybody. So if you weren't there for all the privacy folks, I was at PSR in Los Angeles a couple weeks back and then I was a part of a company retreat the following week in Santa Rosa, california. So I've been kind of out of pocket these last couple weeks traveling. I got sick a little bit. I'm dealing with a hurricane coming to Florida right now, so there's just a lot going on. But I'm so dedicated that I had to get an episode out to you guys, and I figured you know what, what could be so interestingly appropriate, since it is October and it is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. I figured you know what, what could be so interestingly appropriate, since it is October and it is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I figured I'd give you a little, some little tips here, just some nitbits for the community, if you're. I mean, this might be stuff that you guys already know, but maybe not. Maybe there's some stuff in here that might be beneficial or just be good information to have. But if you're new to the show, thanks for tuning in. If you continue to listen in. Man, thank you so much for the support. I'm so excited for some of the stuff that's going to be coming ahead in 2025. Wow, that's crazy to say. This year has gone by so fast. So apologies for you know, just feeling and sounding weird right now, but I am a little under the weather. I'm getting over a whatever it was, I'm not sure. But hey, we're here and we're still going to be goofy. You know what I'm saying. I mean, how can we not right? Am I right? But we'll get serious here for a few seconds, maybe a couple minutes, maybe a couple minutes. Ok, don't get too excited, folks, don't get crazy. All right, let's go ahead and dive into this episode. There it is, there it goes. All right, let's go All right. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Privacy, please. Again. This is the cybersecurity and privacy podcast, where we talk privacy, all things privacy and security. This episode this week is going to be dedicated to a little bit more cybersecurity than anything. Without further ado, let's kind of dive into this.

Speaker 1: 2:52

So, as I mentioned earlier, it's October, so it is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and one of the spotlight four of the most common security blunders and how you can steer clear from all of them. So let's go ahead and jump to the first one. Are you ready? Are you ready for the play? I don't know what I'm, I don't know, I don't know. Anyways, all right, mistake number one reusing passwords across all accounts. I'm looking at you, janice and Frank and Philip and Karen. I gotta say, karen, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, just go with it. Go with it. Good movie, by the way, adam Sandler, just go with it. All right.

Speaker 1: 3:35

In our digital-driven lives, it's tempting to use one password for everything. Right, like your dog's name One Beep, we're saved, we're secure. Nope, it's tempting. It's tempting, but this is a risky move. Just imagine a single key that opens every door in your house. A single data breach can expose your entire digital world. The fix Password managers. They securely store complex passwords, making your online security both robust and manageable. Pretty easy. There's a lot of good ones out there. I could name them off, but I'm not sponsored, so there's plenty that you can use. I'll just use one that I use professionally, which is Bitfinder, but there are plenty out there and Bitfinder. If you come across this and you want to sponsor this show, gosh man, that'd be great. We'd love to have you sponsor the show. All right, you're looking good out there. You know what I'm saying. Thank you, anyways.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Mistake number two, moving on Neglecting software updates. This is a classic one. Okay, so, updating software can feel tedious, right, it's always annoying. But skipping this crucial step is like leaving your front door ajar. I don't want to leave that thing open because anybody could just squeeze their way in like a little weasel. You know what I'm saying? We don't need that, we don't want that. Nobody wants that. So software updates often include vital security patches that safeguard against newly identified vulnerabilities.

Speaker 1: 5:11

Right, by regularly updating your software, you effectively fortify your defenses against cyber threats. It's a common one in the industry. You need to remember to do this personally, for your family, for your organizations. This is huge. Always staying up to date with that is top of mind, for sure. So remember those few minutes of inconvenience are nothing compared to the potential fallout of a cyber attack. Keep it in there. That's number two. Bing bang, boom. Moving on to number threes, let's go to two to threes.

Speaker 1: 5:47

I don't know why I went, mario, there, that was a little weird, all right, anyways, mistake number three clicking suspicious links. Stop it, okay, stop getting so curious. It's okay to be curious, that's how we learn, but let's not click random links. Come on Listen, frankie, Nobody is trying to text you to give you something good, okay, it's just a sketchy, sketchy suspicious link, okay. Okay, put the meatball subscription down, my friend, anyways. So phishing scams are becoming shockingly sophisticated, often disguised as legitimate emails from banks or family members. One careless click can redirect your redirect you to a phony website, so it aims to collect your sensitive information. That's what it's always trying to do.

Speaker 1: 6:41

Never click on something, especially if you are really suspicious about who it came from or what it came from. If it's an email, always look for little things. That I can give you tips on is always look for little things in the address of the sender. So if it looks like somebody that you might know or somebody you work with, look at their address at the top. There's always going to be something that's really funny about the email itself. Sometimes it might not even be their actual name on there. You might not even catch that. So you have to look at those little things, look at things like that, look at the sign off. There's always little things that you can catch that really show that it's not legit at all.

Speaker 1: 7:16

But when in doubt, pump it to spam that it's not legit at all. But when in doubt, pump it to spam, leave it alone, do not click it, and that way it'll kind of it'll, you know, formulate to keep that stuff out in the future. But no, clicky, clicky, okay, keep it out, stop it All. Right. Anyway, stay vigilant, scrutinize emails and links, especially those that you're not expecting, like I said. So a moment of caution can save you from potential identity theft. So if you again, if you you know like someone sends you something and you never want to respond right in the moment, especially if it's like a deep conversation or if it's kind of heated and you feel like you're going to respond in anger, have that same tactic for when you get random emails or texts from people you've never seen before or heard from, give it a second Like, give it a few minutes, give it a day, like, let it sit, don't be clicking on things. Okay, god, don't be crazy what you doing. All right, anyways, you should be pretty. I mean, you guys are good at this. You guys are good, right. All right, we're good. Mistake number four Listen up. People Ignoring dangers of public Wi-Fi.

Speaker 1: 8:28

All right, I'm talking to you, you carb. Oh gosh, I don't even know where I was. I'm talking to you, you little coffee drinkers that like to go, and you know, get out and about, bring your laptop on the go and do my work on the go-go and then use the public Wi-Fi. Be careful. Seriously, though, public Wi-Fi is convenient but often unsecured, offering hackers easy access to your data. So using a VPN is like donning an invisibility cloak for your online activities. It's definitely awesome if you need. You need to be able to have be using that if you're going to be using some open kind of Wi-Fi, so protecting your private information from all them prying eyes coming at you, them peepers, especially around Halloween Come on now. Peepers everywhere, man, people wearing masks and stuff. You don't know what's going on. So even a free VPN option is better than no protection at all when browsing on public networks. So just remember that. Try to use a free one if you can. Free trial. You know all them, things Do it Okay.

Speaker 1: 9:37

Cybersecurity might seem daunting, but with a few mindful practices like these, you can significantly boost your digital safety. So again for October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I really wanted to just kind of give you a short little four-step thing about some of the biggest mistakes that happen out there commonly where there's cyber attacks, and I think these four kind of hit that on the head. So hopefully this was kind of entertaining and helpful. If not, hey, come on now. But we're here. We're here and thank you for the support. Again, we wanted to highlight Cybersecurity Awareness Month for this October and thank you so much Again, as privacy and cybersecurity are one in the same. You know security, you can have security without privacy, but you can't have privacy without security, as we always say. Shout out to Gabe Again. Hopefully, you know, hopefully this month goes well and you guys use these tips for the future, moving forward for your family.

Speaker 1: 10:35

Pass them along, share this episode, show some love, show some support. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. Sorry for some of the delays these last few weeks. Hang tight with me this year. The end of this year is going to be a little rough, but I'm going to make sure that I try to continue to get episodes out each and every week. So thank you again for the support and if you have questions, guests, opportunities, anything, sponsors, shoot them my way. I'll put a link in the description. And, yeah, thank you so much. I'll put a link in the description. And yeah, thank you so much, cameron Ivey, over and out. We'll see you guys soon. If you're in Florida, hunker down safe. Everyone love you, see y'all next time. Cameron Ivey, over and out.