10 Security Tips for Cyber Wingmen

Everyone who wears Air Force blue has a role in defending cyberspace, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said in a service wide message.

"We must all conduct ourselves as Cyber Wingmen, recognizing that our actions and activities on the network affect every other airman and impact our ability to execute the broader Air Force mission," he said.

Schwartz released a checklist that "every airman needs to know and use to secure cyberspace."

Some of the items on the checklist are based on common sense and many can be adopted by anyone who uses a computer:

1. The United States is vulnerable to cyberspace attacks by relentless adversaries attempting to infiltrate our networks -- at work and at home -- millions of times a day, 24/7.

2. Our adversaries plant malicious code, worms, botnets and hooks in common Web sites, software and hardware such as thumb drives, printers, etc.

3. Once implanted, this code begins to distort, destroy and manipulate information, or "phone" it home. Certain code allows our adversaries to obtain higher levels of credentials to access highly sensitive information.

4. The adversary attacks your computers at work and at home knowing you communicate with the AF network by e-mail, or transfer information from one system to another.

5. As Cyber Wingmen, you have a critical role in defending your networks, your information, your security, your teammates and your country.

6. You significantly decrease our adversaries' access to our networks, critical [Air Force] information, and even your personal identity, by taking simple action.

7. Do not open attachments or click on links unless the email is digitally signed, or you can directly verify the source -- even if it appears to be from someone you know.

8. Do not connect any hardware or download any software, applications, music or information onto our networks without approval.

9. Encrypt sensitive but unclassified and/or mission critical information. Ask your CSA for more information.

10. Install the free Department of Defense anti-virus software on your home computer. Your CSA can provide you with your free copy.