U of S security specialist gives tips on how to stay safe online

There are a few simple things everyone can keep in mind to make sure they're secure online.

October is National Cyber Awareness Month and even in today's digital world, Lawrence Dobranski director of ICT security at the University of Saskatchewan said there are some things people do that make him shake his head.

The number one thing is how some people reuse passwords.

"They have a group of favourite passwords that they reuse at all the websites they go to. So if one of those sites gets compromised, the malicious actor will have your password and your email address," Dobranski said.

A few years ago, Dobranski said, an experiment was done at the U of S where they were able to crack about 80,000 passwords in 48 hours.

Dobranski pointed out that many social media sites are now helping people secure their accounts by adding a second factor. For example, you can activate it on Facebook and a pin number will be texted to your cellphone to verify you're the one logging into the account.

Another thing people should do, Dobranski said, is patch their computer. That means making sure your computer has the latest-available update as it will keep the system safer.

"We have to make sure we're accepting them and keeping the machine patched."

Lastly, Dobranski pointed out that people don't take the time to secure their wifi before connecting devices.

"Is it actually a trustworthy wifi connection? Or is it a malicious actor that wants to monitor our connection?"

Dobranski said tools are available to make sure you're connecting to a virtual private network.

Taking such steps, Dobranski explained, are important to keep your identity safe.