Associated with the page Types of emergency situations
In the event of a cyber attack, follow these instructions:
At work, strictly observe the safety rules and procedures laid down by your employer. Here are some basic guidelines:
Do not divulge your passwords to anyone;
Avoid using a personal USB key or external drive for professional purposes;
Always lock your workstation when you are away from it, even briefly; and
Report any suspicious incident to the IT security manager.
At home, the following actions can help prevent or reduce the impact of a computer security incident:
Make sure you have up-to-date software, antivirus and firewall protection;
Check that your computer and network are securely configured. If necessary, ask a specialist for help;
Create long passwords that are difficult to guess, including numbers, upper and lower case letters and special characters; and
Do not divulge your passwords to anyone;
Don’t use the same password twice, and change it regularly;
When registering for an Internet site or service, be sure to choose security questions whose answers are known only to you, and which could be asked of you if you forget your password;
Avoid clicking on hyperlinks in unsolicited e-mails;
Before opening e-mail attachments, make sure you know what they are;
If you decide to reply to e-mails from people or organizations you don’t know, avoid transmitting personal information;
Consult only reliable sites, i.e. from reputable organizations. Pay particular attention to the spelling and overall visual appearance of the sites you visit to spot counterfeits;
Transact only on secure sites. Secure sites have an Internet address starting with “https” or feature a padlock or lock icon on the page; and
Carefully control the distribution of your personal information.
At work and at home, secure your mobile communication devices (smartphones, digital tablets, etc.):
Activate the automatic lock function after a period of inactivity or when you’re not using your device
Adjust security and privacy settings before downloading and installing applications;
Download applications from reliable sources. When you plan never to use the application again, delete it;
Make sure your operating system and applications are kept up to date;
Take particular care when using public or unknown wireless networks; and
If necessary, use software that allows you to monitor and lock your mobile devices remotely, or even modify or delete content.
Since mobile devices are often replaced and sometimes contain sensitive information, follow these recommendations before disposing of them:
Erase data by wiping your device with the reset option; and
Transfer the SIM (Suscriber Identity Module) card, the external card or, if fitted, the SD (Secure Digital) card to the new device. Otherwise, make it unusable.
Source and reference for more information: Urgence Québec – Cyberattack
