If you’re not careful online, a hacker can swipe your personal information and use it to steal your money, ruin your credit history, make purchases, get cash advances and otherwise misuse or even sell your information. The danger is real, and unfortunately, it happens every day.

To help educate the public about these potential threats and how to help prevent them, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Throughout the month, organizations across the country share best practices to safe while using the Internet.

At Montgomery County Community College, the IT Department has been sharing a number of ways to improve online security, including a campaign to get all students to use multi-factor authentication (MFA).

“MFA is a best practice to add protection to our accounts,” said Bill Rosenbaum, MCCC Executive Director of Information Technology Security. “As opposed to relying on a simple password to prove that you are who you claim to be to college systems, you provide something you know (your password) and something you have (access to your phone).”

Adding this simple step can make a huge difference in terms of security.

“MFA is important, and Microsoft has provided analysis that indicates that MFA blocks 99% of automated attacks,” said Rosenbaum. “It is an important tool in our security toolbox to safeguard individual user accounts and reduce individual and institutional risk.”

To help spread the message and get as many students as possible to use MFA, Rosenbaum and the IT Marketing, Academic Affairs and Facilities departments collaborated to rollout a full campaign. Throughout October, IT has sent emails and texts, created posts for social media and Montco Connect, shared messages through advisors and faculty, and have hosted information tables with incentives such as free Security Monty t-shirts and fun activities, including a security escape room.

So far, participation has been good, said Rosenbaum, noting that most students understand the importance of protecting their accounts and information.

“I’m really thankful for all of the support from the college community,” Rosenbaum said. “From the staff who helped to brainstorm the implementation plan, to those who helped with implementation and communication, and the students who have followed through to complete the process that will reduce individual and institutional risk, while also helping me and all of us to sleep better knowing we’re taking these safety measures.”

For more information about best cybersecurity practices, visit mc3.edu/security. Students still have time to enroll in Multi-Factor Authentication.