Oct. 11. TDS Telecommunications, the high-speed internet, TV entertainment and phone services that serves Mooresville, Davidson and Cornelius, says artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay and while there are many benefits, bad actors are using it as well to replicate voices and “create deep fakes” to deceive people.

“The best way to fight against enhanced threats posed by AI is to remain vigilant with good internet security practices and overall awareness of these risks,” said TDS Vice President of Information Technologies Karl Betz.

Karl Betz, TDS

October may be National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but scammers won’t stop attempting to infect your devices or trick you into giving up sensitive and personal information like passwords or social security numbers.

Betz has four internet security practices:

1. Use Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are long (at least 12 characters), random, unique and include all four-character types (uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols). Password managers are a powerful tool to help you create and store strong passwords for each of your accounts.

2. Recognize and Report Phishing (email), Vishing (voice), and Smishing (text)
Be cautious of unsolicited messages asking for personal information or asking you to respond quickly and by a deadline. Avoid sharing sensitive information or credentials with unknown sources. Report phishing attempts to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at [email protected] and delete the message. Do not trust everything you see on the internet, especially social media, and be cautious about clicking on links as they may be infected with malware.

3. Update Software
Ensuring your software is up to date is the best way to make sure you have the latest security patches and updates on your devices. Regularly check for updates if automatic updates are not available.

4. Turn on Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
You need more than a password to protect your online accounts and enabling MFA makes you significantly less likely to get hacked. You will see this with most financial institutions that text a code to your mobile device. Enable MFA on all your online accounts that offer it, especially email, social media, and financial accounts.