October is Cybersecurity awareness month.

According to the United States Government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure security agency, there are four simple ways to protect yourself online. The first is using a strong password for any account you may have online with unique characters and combinations of upper and lowercase letters. Second, is to turn on multi factor authentication or MFA to add extra protection. Third is to recognize and report suspicious or unsolicited messages, and lastly to always be sure your software is up to date.

Cybersecurity threats are something that affects nearly every single person at some point in their lifetime and Knoxville Community School District IT Director Barry Smith says it’s especially important for school-aged kids to be aware of these threats.

“I would encourage parents to really work with their kids to make sure they understand the pitfalls of going into some links and clicking on them, and filling out information and say they are 13 years old and what they do after school, that they go home and watch tv. It can be a predator trap and they have to be careful of those things.”

Hear more from Smith about cybersecurity tips on an upcoming Let’s Talk Knoxville.