‘Tis the season for resolutions. We’d like to offer some suggestions for cybersecurity goals you can keep all year long.

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It’s an annual tradition – making New Year’s resolutions. But it seems too often we have trouble keeping those resolutions. Just ask your treadmill or that box of cookies.

This year, Cyber Aware wants to help you make a resolution you can keep and at the same time make 2022 a little more secure.

Resolution: I will strengthen passwords by adopting passphrases.

The beginning of the year is a good time to update your passwords. Create a unique phrase to add length and strengthen security for each account and device. And if you have any accounts or devices with default passwords, resolve to change them today!

Resolution: I will forward suspicious texts to my carrier.

If you get a suspicious text, you can do something to help us stop scam texts. Reporting unwanted text messages sends them to AT&T's spam defense team. We'll evaluate the message, trace it and take action to help protect our users and other consumers.

Resolution: I will not click on links in an email or open attachments unless I know they are safe.

Links and attachments are favorite bad guy tricks. Make it a habit to stop before you click anything in a suspicious email or text, or from a sender you do not know.

Resolution: I will secure my old email accounts.

Email can be a treasure chest for bad guys. That includes any old email accounts you don’t use anymore. Take a look at those accounts and decide if you want to keep them or delete them.

And when it comes to the email you use most, clean out your trash and spam folders regularly.

Resolution: I will not share information with someone who calls asking for it.

Don’t automatically trust someone you don’t know who calls, texts or emails. It could be a bad guy pretending to be someone they aren’t. Be smart and don’t fall for social engineering.

Resolution: ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Resolve to make this the most secure year it can be. And don’t cheat on these resolutions.