Obviously being a high-profile person can make you a target, but yesterday’s act just proves that we are all at risk online. In a recent joint study by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Microsoft, 47 percent of American teens between the ages of 13 and 17 said they were very concerned about someone accessing their accounts with permission. Another recent NCSA surveyuncovered Americans’ lack of awareness on how to make their accounts secure – as 72 percent believe their accounts are secure with only usernames and passwords.

While we do not know all the details on how Zuckerberg’s account got hacked, we do know that stronger authentication—more than just a login and password—can help keep the bad guys from gaining access to your email, banking and social accounts.

This past September, in collaboration with the White House and with support from more than 30 companies and nonprofit organizations, NCSA launched the Lock Down Your Login campaign with the aim for Americans to increase their use of stronger authentication and help ease anxieties about cybercrime.

“Today’s top priority for all digital citizens should be to focus on securing their account access. We encourage everyone to lock down their logins and opt in to stronger authentication wherever it’s available,” said Michael Kaiser executive director of NCSA. “The good news is that many online sites from your email, social and banking offer additional layers of security to protect your accounts.”

NCSA encourages all businesses that currently don’t offer a stronger authentication as an option for its customers to explore adding this level of protection.

To learn some of the ways on how to turn on stronger authentication on websites and online services, we encourage you to visit lockdownyourlogin.com.

Media Contact:

Jessica Beffa
Thatcher+Co.
720-413-4938
ncsa@thatcherandco.com