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Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CSAM) is a collaborative effort among businesses, government agencies, colleges and universities, associations, nonprofit organizations, tribal communities, and individuals committed to educating others on online safety. Now in its 21st year, Cybersecurity Awareness Month, held each October, is the world’s foremost initiative aimed at promoting cybersecurity awareness and best practices.
From mobile to connected home devices, technology is deeply intertwined with our lives. And while the evolution of technology accelerates, cybercriminals are working just as hard to find ways to compromise technology and disrupt personal and business life. Cybersecurity Awareness Month aims to highlight some of the emerging challenges that exist in the world of cybersecurity today and provide straightforward actionable guidance that anyone can follow to create a safe and secure digital world for themselves and their loved ones.
SUNY College of Optometry is proud to be recognized as a CSAM Champion supporting this online safety and education initiative, co-managed by the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 is “Secure Our World”. This initiative empowers everyone to understand the simple ways to protect yourself, your family and your business from online threats. We’re increasingly connected through digital tools and more of our sensitive information is online. This convenience comes with risks. Each of us has a part to play in keeping ourselves and others safe. It’s easy to do and takes less time than you think.
In support of this year’s theme, Cybersecurity Awareness Month encourages everyone to take four easy steps each day to ensure our online safety:
Strong passwords are long, random, unique and include all four character types (uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols). Password managers are a powerful tool to help you create strong passwords for each of your accounts.
You need more than a password to protect your online accounts and enabling MFA makes you significantly less likely to get hacked. Enable MFA on all your online accounts that offer it, especially email, social media and financial accounts.
Be cautious of unsolicited messages asking for personal information. Avoid sharing sensitive information or credentials with unknown sources. Report phishing attempts and delete the message.
Ensuring your software is up to date is the best way to make sure you have the latest security patches and updates on your devices. Regularly check for updates if automatic updates are not available.
As our online lives expand, the average user has gone from having just a few passwords to now managing upwards of 100. That’s 100 unique passwords to remember, if you’re using strong password habits. Password managers can save users the trouble of having to remember multiple passwords and make accounts safer by recommending strong, unique passwords and storing them all in one place.
Using an easy-to-guess password is like locking the door but leaving the key in the lock. Weak passwords can quickly be cracked by computer hackers. The good news is that strong passwords are one of the easiest ways to protect your accounts from compromise and reduce the risk of someone stealing sensitive information, data, money, or even your identity.
Remembering long, unique passwords for every account in our lives is impossible. Rather than write them down or reuse weak passwords, use a password manager.
Password managers generate complex and unique passwords for you, store them all in one place and tell you when you have weak, re-used passwords, or compromised passwords. They can also automatically fill credentials into sites and apps using a secure browser plugin. You only need to remember one master password—the one for accessing the password manager itself. (Tip: Create a memorable long “passphrase” as described above and NEVER write your master password down.
Secure Our World: Passwords Tip Sheet (CISA)
Passwords Infographic (NCA)
Using Strong Passwords and a Password Manger (NCA)
The Benefits of Using a Random Password Generator for Safer Online Access (NCA)
Tips for Better Passwords (Consumer Reports)
In a recent National Cybersecurity Alliance survey, 57% of respondents said they have heard of multifactor authentication (MFA), but many people don’t realize that multifactor authentication is an incredibly important layer of protection in keeping accounts secure. This month, we’re showing others how easy it is to turn on MFA whenever possible.
MFA provides extra security by providing a secondary method confirming your identity when logging into accounts. MFA usually requires you to enter a code sent to your phone or email, or one generated by an authenticator app. Push notifications are also common methods of MFA. This added step prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to your accounts, even if your password has been compromised.
Not every account offers MFA, but it’s becoming more popular every day. It’s seen on many accounts that usually hold either valuable financial or personal information like banks, financial institutions, online stores, or social media platforms. Any place online that is storing your personal information (especially financial information), or any account that can be compromised and used to trick or defraud someone else should be protected with MFA. Simply put, use MFA everywhere!
More Than a Password: Protect Yourself from Malicious Hackers with Multifactor Authentication (CISA)
Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (NCA)
Nail The Basics Of Cybersecurity With Multi-Factor Authentication (Forbes)
Phishing attacks have become an increasingly common problem for organizations of all sizes and can be very difficult to spot. It’s important every individual stop and think before clicking on a link or opening an attachment and know how to spot red flags. Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023 guidance provides the tools needed to recognize and report phishing it to their organization or email provider.
Phishing occurs when criminals try to get you to open harmful links or attachments that could steal personal information or infect devices. Phishing messages or “bait” usually come in the form of an email, text, direct message on social media or phone call. These messages are often designed to look like they come from a trusted person or organization, to get you to respond. The good news is you can avoid the phish hook and keep accounts secure!
Secure Our World:Phishing Tip Sheet (CISA)
Be On The Lookout For Phishing! (KnowBe4)
To Click or Not To Click: That is the Question (NCA)
Phishing: Cybercriminals like to go phishing, but you don’t have to take the bait (NCA)
How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams (FTC)
Spotting a Vaccine Phishing Scam: Can You Find the Red Flags? (NCA)
Approximately 2 in 5 survey respondents say they either “sometimes,” “rarely,” or “never” install software updates (NCA). One of the easiest ways to protect accounts and information is to keep software and applications updated. Updates are periodically released to fix software problems and provide security patches for known vulnerabilities. This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, don’t hit the “remind me later” button. Take action to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.
Keeping software up to date is an easy way improve your digital security. For added convenience, turn on the automatic updates in your device or application security settings! Set it and forget it!
Devices and applications will usually notify you when the latest software updates become available, but it’s important to check periodically as well. Software updates include devices’ operating systems, programs and apps. It’s important to install ALL updates, especially for web browsers and antivirus software, or apps with financial or sensitive information.
When a software update becomes available, especially critical updates, be sure to install them as soon as possible. Attackers won’t wait, and you shouldn’t either!
With automatic updates, devices will install updates as soon as they become available—Easy! To turn on the automatic updates feature, look in the device settings, usually under Software or Security.
Maybe you’ve seen these pop-up windows when visiting a website or opening software that urgently asks you to download something or fill out a form? These are always fake and should not be followed. A browser will only warn you not to move forward or stay on a specific web address because it might not be secured or it could contain malware.
Secure Our World: Software Updates Tip Sheet (CISA)
Why is Cybersecurity Important? (CISA)
Software Updates Infographic (NCA)
Software Updates (NCA)
Understanding Patches and Software Updates (CISA)
The Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champions represent those dedicated to promoting a safer, more secure and more trusted internet.
Other CSAM Champions include companies and organizations of all sizes, schools and school districts, colleges and universities, nonprofits, government organizations and individuals.
Additional information and resources on cyber issues and implementing sound cyber security practices are also available at the following websites:
