WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — In an increasingly connected world, navigating AI and cybersecurity is more important than ever.

To help encourage cybersecurity literacy, MSU hosted a Cybersecurity Symposium on Friday, October 11, featuring keynote speakers from across the nation.

According to pros, fabricated news sites and emails are the main scams people fall for, but as our world shrinks through interconnectedness, these can be detrimental not just to your identity but also to Texas’ infrastructure.

“You’re not just here in Wichita Falls. You’re in Wichita Falls for part of a bigger global network,” SentinelOne Chief Security Advisor Morgan Wright said. “Everything’s connected together.”

Staying vigilant is more important than ever. Professionals like Wright say security breaches don’t just affect individuals.

“Five or 10 years ago, we would be talking about, ‘Oh, if your password gets out or if your credit card gets out, it might be some identity theft. Now, it’s about power. It’s about water,” Wright said. “When you have hurricanes, when you have tornadoes, when you have a huge heat wave that impacts your electrical grid, those are the types of things we have to be able to protect. Everybody’s part of it; it’s about literally protecting your identity.”

And as small businesses rely more on AI programs like ChatGPT, which Wright said saves all of that data, others say obscurity is no longer security.

“If you’re a small business, you’re increasingly a sweet target for hackers because it takes less work than ever using AI to target your business,” Data Stream Insurance Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer Max Henderson said. “And you tend to have less security than an enterprise.”

Whether you’re talking to someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince or get one of those texts asking if you’re able to hang out, the pair sees more people falling for similar scams daily.

“The biggest type of loss that we see is business email compromise, and this is really simple stuff,” Henderson said. “This is people just mimicking a real email and looking like they’re asking for a wire transfer. This is still where 25% losses that we see on the insurance side come in.”

Wright added that fabricated news sites are also a common source of scam victimhood.

So, how do you lessen your chances of becoming a victim? Even when barrages of time-sensitive scams flood your inbox, just take a step back.

“Slowing down, taking your time, and realizing, ‘Did I ask for this information? Did I ask for this PDF? Do I really have to open it?” Wright said. “Don’t fall for these text messages where they go, ‘Hi, is this so-and-so?’ because everything’s part of a scam. Be very stingy about sharing your information.”

Of course, it’s a prevalent issue, but the pair say it’s not all doom and gloom.

They agree it’s important to be skeptical of everything you see online and use multi-factor authentication. And if you want to go the extra mile, cyber insurance is available to protect overlooked security gaps.

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