Photo By Wendy Arevalo | Sgt. 1st Class Kheesha Lowery, cyber network defender, 1st Theater Sustainment Command...... read more read more
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October is cybersecurity awareness month, but cybersecurity is a priority every day for 1st Theater Sustainment Command’s (TSC) cybersecurity team.
At 1st TSC, it is the job of cyber network defenders Sgt. 1st Class Kheesha Lowery and Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Holly to identify and contain any cybersecurity incidents and promote cybersecurity awareness.
But, it’s a team effort. They need the assistance of personnel in the unit.
It takes a team because we are reliant upon technology, and every user has an entry point into the network, so every user has to protect their part of the network,” said Lowery.
In an effort to promote cybersecurity awareness, Lowery placed posters throughout the 1st TSC headquarters building focusing on maintaining privacy online, consumer devices and e-commerce security.
Lowery said one thing personnel do that can put the network at risk is download files from their personal email onto a government computer. If the file they download is infected, it could introduce malware onto the system.
If the virus is sophisticated enough, it might not get detected by the antivirus software and can stay in the network undetected and potentially destroy systems, delete files or steal data, added Lowery.
“I believe most incidents are accidental, from not being aware, or not understanding the threats or risks that are out there, and not considering how important technology is and how much data is contained in technology, such as in banking, medical, medical devices, medical records,” Lowery said. “Everything is done online and I don’t think people consider that. … They do things and take risks without considering cybersecurity at all.”
Holly said one thing that people need to be more careful with is their cell phone.
“It is a computing device that’s very powerful and has more connections that any of our computers that almost everyone in America uses,” he said. “It is the most easily cracked [device] right now and it’s also the thing that we, as humans, put the most sensitive stuff on."
Both Holly and Lowery recommend users are careful with what apps they use on their phone. They specifically warned about using the Facebook-owned messaging service, What’sApp. Although the service is advertised as being encrypted, it should not be used to transmit operational information.
“What’sApp claims to protect your data,” said Holly. “What you can’t control is what device is using this app. As a government agency, when you put this on your personal phones, and we’re not protecting your personal phones, how can you protect the data that’s going across it?”
Lowery and Holly also warn against using voice-activated interfaces like Alexa, which record your voice and send it over the Internet.
For Holly, everything goes back to information security.
“Assume you’re compromised,” Holly said. "I think information security is really where we need to be a little more vigilant. Assume you’re compromised and you’ll act a little more differently.”
Here are 10 simple tips for better cybersecurity:
• Use anti-virus software.
• Protect home networks with firewalls.
• Password-protect your wireless router and network.
• Disconnect from the Internet when not in use.
• Back-up your computer regularly.
• Restrict access to your computer and accounts: sharing has risks.
• Delete email from unknown sources.
• Use hard-to-guess passwords and keep them private.
• Don’t provide personal information like Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, etc. with non-secure and unfamiliar web sites.
• Help your family check computer security on a regular basis.
| Date Taken: | 10.28.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.28.2019 16:31 |
| Story ID: | 349557 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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