Working in digital environments has always been challenging from a security perspective. Starting with the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures, even more citizens had to depend on digital means, for both personal and professional purposes – a context in which security has become an ever-increasing concern. The current Guideline is dedicated to both individuals (teachers, students, teleworkers, parents or everyday digital citizens) and organisations (Civil Society Organisations, Small and Medium Enterprises, freelancers) – aiming to ensure minimum safety measures for everyone, explaining the basics and providing examples that could make the digital transformation more accessible to all users.
Join us to better understand how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted our digital behaviours by contributing to this short SURVEY!
Long passwords / 2FA
- Six or more WORDS for PC / six or more numbers for your phone
- Turn on “two-factor” or “two-step” authentication on online accounts
- Safeguard your passwords
- Don’t reuse passwords
- Use a password manager if possible.
Be aware of who has access to your data and which data you share
- Assess the tools you use.
- Check your privacy settings on your social network accounts.
- Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity.
- Read more about how to better control your data traces.
Pay attention to what you click on
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links and email attachments.
- Avoid submitting sensitive information through links sent by unknown third-party.
- If possible, manually type the website URL in your browser instead of clicking a link in order to avoid phishing.
- Only install apps from trusted sources.
Backup your data
- PC – use USB sticks, external hard disk or NAS.
- Smartphone – check settings and decide what, where and how often you save your data.
- Organisation’s website – local copy, backup policies provider and CMS.
- Find the pros and cons of each option and more.
Keep Your Device Secure & Updated
- Keep your device’s operating system updated.
- Use web browsers that receive frequent automatic security updates.
- Encrypt sensitive data.
Connect Wisely
- Don’t use the Internet on PCs without antivirus.
- Use a firewall in order to protect your PC from external attacks. Read more about what a firewall does.
- Use a VPN – Virtual Private Network. If your organisation doesn’t have one, you should read this guideline.
- Organisation’s website – local copy, backup policies for provider and CMS.
Protect sensitive data
- Be aware of sensitive data, personal information and GDPR rules.
- Keep sensitive data in a secure place.
- Use encryption when storing or transmitting sensitive data. Read more on this topic.
Know what to do if you become a cyber victim
- First thing change your password.
- Control other accounts connected with the attacked profile.
- Report to national competent authorities, for Romania CERT.RO and Romanian police.
- Alert the bank if you have issues with your credit card or you shared information about Internet banking with suspect entities.
- Report the scam/fraud directly on the platform you used to open “the offer”.
Separate your private life from your professional life
- Don’t use your social media private profile for your association/organization too.
- Don’t use your personal email address for work-related activities.
- You should not use Yahoo, Gmail or other generic email platforms. If you have the resources, invest in a personalized domain name.