Cyber Security Awareness Month for newcomers in Canada ensures digital safety. October is the month when the Communications Security Establishment Canada looks forward to prioritizing the significance of cyber security.
The newcomers arriving in Canada tend to be more prone to cyber threats. This is why it is crucial for them to have more information on such cyber security threats and possible measures. The new immigrants spend considerable time online, and they must be aware of existing cyber crimes.
Cyber Security Awareness Month for Newcomers in Canada
The 2023 Cyber Security theme is “Step up your Cyber Fitness.” The CSE reveals that this particular theme discusses the potential to understand and respond to such cyber threats through some small and convenient measures.
Canada’s National Defense Minister, Bill Blair, claims that this month is an opportunity to demonstrate before Canadians about using effortless cyber security initiatives in their routine life. These measures influence everyone and help make the country a better place with more digital safety.
Understanding Cyber Safety and Security
Here are several themes related to cyber security that will cover different learnings on the same topic. The following themes will evaluate the different practices you can adopt to maintain cyber safety throughout the year:
The first week – learning the basic skills
October’s first week (cyber month) covers all the basic skills related to cyber threats. These include comprehending the common types of threats, the digital tools to maintain safety, and other easy steps. At first, newcomers need to learn about common scams that might happen against them, such as the term Phishing. This implies that an organization demonstrates itself before the newcomers as legitimate. Furthermore, they might instigate the new immigrant to reveal their personal or sensitive information. They might as well offer them to click on the link prone to viruses.
The second week – account safety
The second week teaches newcomers to protect their online accounts by setting unique and personalized passwords and enabling multi-factor authorization. This way, they can secure themselves from phishing or any other social engineering scams. It is crucial to make them understand the value of strong passwords to maintain digital safety. As a result, they will be able to protect their personal or sensitive information from external sources or hackers. These include things like your bank account details and any other personal information.
The third week – protecting the devices
The third week emphasizes device protection this cyber month in 2023. You could ensure device protection through a Virtual Private Network, anti-virus software installation, and taking home Wi-Fi. For instance, VPNs prevent wrong or unwanted people from eyeing your online presence while navigating the web. These are only a few of the several tools that newcomers could use to ensure their digital safety.
The fourth week – additional security
The fourth week of Canada’s Cyber Awareness Month teaches how Canadians can use powerful security tools, including password managers, default device updates, and data backups. New immigrants and Canadians can take advantage of such digital safety practices. Keeping an extra security layer to the personal information uploaded on your devices- computers or mobile phones- is vital.
The fifth week – sharing the digital safety suggestions with others
The Cyber Awareness Month of 2023 will discuss the significance of spreading the word across Canada. This means that the people who derive direct knowledge from this month’s teachings must also share it further with their friends and families. This could be children or even senior people.
Cyber security measures and available resources for newcomers in Canada
To ensure your cyber safety, you can access the following tips and resources:
Evaluating the difference between authentic IRCC instructions and possible scams
Today’s digital era can make it challenging for individuals to understand the difference between scammers acting as IRCC communicators and the actual IRCC resources. To prevent yourself from falling into the trap of online scams resembling IRCC, it is better to respond only to information or links you searched for. If some link or information pops up on the screen without you asking for it, you must avoid it. Clicking on such links or attachments through unsolicited emails must be avoided at all costs. They might be suspicious and lead to cyber scams.
Identifying the differences between legitimate websites and fake immigration websites
The authentic government sources will provide you with all immigration information in two official languages. This means the content will be available in English and French. The original websites will include proper URLs, such as “Canada.ca” or “gc.ca.” However, several websites might resemble the Canadian government’s websites, but they will not have the above features.
Go ahead with proven immigration service providers
The authentic service providers for immigration will comprise a legitimate website displaying their services. However, several fake immigration service providers try to enact as the government’s immigration service providers. Newcomers must check out the available official Canadian registries and prevalent directories online. They might use them to verify if a particular firm or organization has authorized immigration representatives or not. Also, Canadian immigration lawyers must be authorized in the area they practice. This means they must be registered with the provincial and territorial laws.
Access the government’s cyber safety resources
You can search the page on the Canadian government’s official website regarding immigration fraud. Such a resource will discuss the various ongoing practices of immigration fraud in the country. You will also get to know more about the steps to prevent yourself from such immigration fraud.
Maintain your cyber safety in 2023
As a newcomer in Canada, you must keep yourself and your family in Canada safe from such cyber threats. These basic cyber skills will ensure that you’re able to maintain your online safety even in dangerous times. Remain alert regarding all such practices, and don’t just fall prey to giving your vulnerable information to unknown websites or hackers.
If you have any general queries or concerns regarding Canadian immigration, you can reach out to Make Home Canada experts. You may either write to us at [email protected] or call us at 1-800-979-0509.
