Cybersecurity Essentials: Protect Your Accounts and Devices

This class walks you through the security habits that protect everyday people from the most common attacks: stolen and reused passwords, phishing messages, unpatched devices, lost data, and risky networks. You'll learn how each threat works in plain language, then fix it with concrete, step-by-step settings changes.

It's designed for anyone who uses email, a smartphone, and online banking, with no technical background required. If you've ever reused a password, wondered whether a text from "your bank" was real, or put off setting up backups, this class is for you. Small business owners and parents setting up family devices will find it especially useful.

By the end, you'll have a password manager set up with unique passwords on your most important accounts, two-factor authentication or passkeys turned on, automatic updates and a tested backup in place, and a personal security checklist you can repeat once a year or share with family members.

Your project is a personal security checkup. Work through your own accounts and devices, apply what you learn in each lesson, and document the results in a one-page checklist. Keep actual passwords, codes, and account numbers out of it.

• List your five most critical accounts and the protection on each (unique password, 2FA method, passkey)
• Record your update and backup setup, including the date of your last successful test restore
• Note three phishing red flags you spotted in real messages
• Finish with a short list of next steps and a date for your next checkup