Week 03 - Staying Cyber Safe in a Mobile World

This week we focus on just how digitally connected our world has become.

Our theme this week is:  Staying Cyber Safe in a Mobile World.  There’s no doubt that our digital world has become increasingly mobile in the past few years.  The challenge is, how do we identify the risks associated with mobile devices and what steps do we take to minimise these risks? We want you to be able to make the most of technology at all times, including when you travel, so what’s the answer?  And that’s the goal of this week – to try and help you learn what the risks are and what you can do to keep yourself, and the personal information travelling with you, safe.  Consider:

•  Mobile devices tend not to be updated as often as corporate computers where we have administrators actively manage system updates.
•  Mobile devices often aren’t secured as well as they should be.  For example, how many of you have a pass-code on your mobile phone or tablet.  C’mon now, be honest…  :^)
•  How secure is the data stored on mobile devices?  Is it encrypted? 

Our mobile devices are increasingly interfacing with our corporate infrastructure so we need to help you ensure that you’re taking all the steps necessary to be safe when you’re on the move.  And that is what this week is about.

We're here to help!

We've got a few more resources to help you stay cyber safe while on the move - check them out, there's some great information there:

• The biggest risk in the mobile space isn’t “hacked” devices, it’s LOST devices.  The infographic on the right explains about the “Honeystick” project, where researchers left devices out for people to find and then tracked what they did with them.
• A newsletter from the SANS Institute entitled "Staying Secure on the Road".  It has some great tips for staying cyber safe when travelling.
• BC’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has produced an excellent guidance document  that has some good, basic information on how you can safeguard personal information while you’re away from the office.