CyberPatriot’s cyber tips #3

The Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps has a branch dedicated to cyber security. This group participates in a national cyber security program with competitions called CyberPatriot. Here are the group’s cyber tips for December:

1. Have you ever wanted to ensure your connection is encrypted without outside interference? Try a VPN! A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, creates a secure tunnel for your messages. Some popular VPN options are NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN.

2. If you’re on a Mac or Linux computer, try opening up the Terminal and entering “top.” This command will show you the various processes running on your computer. If your computer is abnormally slow, this may be a good place to look (viruses can often take up much memory).

3. Did you know USBs can be harmful to your computer? They can give your computer malware that can give a hacker access to your device. Make sure the USBs you use are safe and do not use USBs that you found or were given by someone you do not trust that well.

4. Go to settings and ensure that your firewall is switched on. Your firewall acts as a layer of protection for your devices. Keeping your firewall switched on all the time can help detect threats and block them before they can do any harm.

5. If you accidentally download a virus from the browser, make sure to close the browser and shut down your computer as soon as possible!

Senior Nathan Min, commander; sophomore Veer Chopra, sergeant of SRHS CyberPatriot; and sophomore Delbert Tran, CyberPatriot NCO; are leading the CyberPatriot branch at SRHS AFJROTC.