While Jim was in the Navy, he had the opportunity to play with all the latest and greatest technology and he loved it.  He started his presentation with a history of technology starting back in 1903 with morse code.  He says there is evidence of cyber hacking everyday on the internet.  Loss of National Intelligence can and would be catastrophic.  In order to mitigate your risk for an attack on your devices, Jim suggests using complex passwords with upper and lower case letters as well as numbers and characters.  He says you should also shut off your device when you are not using it and that you need to check your credit reports every year.  When opening an email with an attachment, you should save it to your hard drive before opening it and never click on a link in an email that you are unsure about.  When it comes to social media, Jim suggests you limit the amount of personal information you provide, to not post about travel until you have returned, and to restrict your privacy settings to only friends.  

 

2020 updated topics that Jim discussed were: 1. Google has saved all of your searches. 2. At work, always verify an email before taking action. 3. Alexa and other voice assistant devices monitor and record conversations up to 19 times a day. 4.  If using the Zoom app, make sure to download directly from Zoom.  5.  Keep your camera cover on all of your devices.  6.  Use 70% alcohol wipes to clean your phone during this time of COVID.  7.  Cyber criminal will exploit pandemics so stay vigilant.  A few signs you have been hacked are pop up messages and your computer slowing down.  

 

Finally, Jim mentioned that it is very important to talk to children about stranger danger on the internet.  Child pornography and sex trafficking are more prolific than you realize.  He said the one take away he wanted everyone to remember is to never, ever click on a link you are unsure about.