by Dave Moore, CISSP
09/17/2023
September is National Preparedness Month. Come to the Norman Public Library Central Location next week, September 20, 2023, at 6:30pm, and take my free one-night class, “Fight The Internet Bad Guys & Win.” There, I will teach you how to prepare your Internet safety bug-out bag so you can stay safe on the Internet. Open to all ages, visit pioneer.libnet.info/event/8770968 or call 405-701-2600 to register and learn more. Sponsored by Josh Nelson Allstate Insurance, McClain Bank and the Norman Transcript.
“Bug-out bag,” you say? Think of tornado season in Oklahoma. There I was, years ago, watching our local weather expert pointing at a map on the TV that included the area where I live. “There it is,” he said, pointing to an area a few miles from my house. “The tornado is right there.”
He then predicted the tornado would reach my neighborhood in about 15-20 minutes. “Take your tornado precautions now.” He repeated the drill every Oklahoman should know: get in the storm shelter. If you don’t have a storm shelter, go to the lowest central part of the house and cover up with blankets, pillows, mattresses, etc. Stay away from windows. Put on heavy gloves, boots, and a helmet, if you have one. If you are driving, don’t try to outrun the tornado. Instead, drive at right angles to its path. The list goes on.
Then, he said what bothered me the most. “Grab your bug-out bag now, and get to it.” He then looked right at the camera, looking me straight in the eyes and said, “You do have your bug-out bag ready, right?”
I was busted. Gulp. “No,” I said forlornly to the Master on the TV. My bug-out bag was not ready. I had plenty of things that could help in any conceivable emergency, but they were not gathered together in a ready-to-go bug-out bag configuration. I was not prepared. I resolved to remedy the situation, and my bug-out bag has been ready ever since.
September is observed as National Preparedness Month and is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Take Control in 1, 2, 3,” is the theme of this year’s event, with all sorts of preparedness ideas to be found at the event’s official website, www.ready.gov/september.
Numerous wide-ranging preparedness topics are covered at ready.gov/september, including bioterrorism, drought, nuclear explosions and space weather (sunspots, and the like). Click the tab that says, “Disasters and Emergencies.” The section titled “Cybersecurity” is worth checking out.
There are a number of items that should be in everyone’s cyber bug-out bag, such as strong passwords, high-quality antivirus programs (which do not include Webroot or McAfee), regularly and securely backing up your files, and turning off “location features.” I especially like the one that says, “Watch for suspicious activity that asks you to do something right away, offers something that sounds too good to be true, or needs your personal information. Think before you click.”
The moral of this story is to get your computer/Internet bug-out bag together. Don’t wait until the cyber-storm is bearing down on your house. Prepare now and be a victor, not a victim. See you next week and I will show you how.
Dave Moore, CISSP, has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd, he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.org