[BreachExchange] National Cyber Security Awareness Month

[Inga Goddijn]

https://www.arbornetworks.com/blog/insight/national-cyber-security-awareness-month/

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month and according to the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security,

“National Cyber Security Awareness Month is designed to engage and educate
public and private sector partners through events and initiatives to raise
awareness about cybersecurity, provide them with tools and resources needed
to stay safe online, and increase the resiliency of the Nation in the event
of a cyber incident.”

They say timing is everything. Well, in September there were some truly
astonishing headlines related to cybersecurity. We saw a data breach that
compromised 500 million customer accounts, the largest ever. Journalist Brian
Krebs
<https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/09/the-democratization-of-censorship/>
was targeted by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that topped
700Gbps, equivalent to 140,000 high-definition movies streaming at once.
This was the largest attack ever seen, but only for a matter of days. OVH,
a European web hosting company, said they were targeted by a DDoS attack
that topped 1Tbps, crossing a barrier that was unthinkable only a few short
years ago.

As the relentless flow of headlines shows, we can’t afford to focus on
cybersecurity education and best practices one month per year. It needs to
be something on our minds every time we go online, whether you are a
globetrotting executive or a social media obsessed millennial. All of us
can do a better job being a Guardian of the Connected World. No better time
to start than right now.

Each week of National Cyber Security Month
<https://www.dhs.gov/national-cyber-security-awareness-month> has a theme,

*Week 1:* October 3-7, 2016 – Every Day Steps Towards Online Safety with
Stop.Think.Connect.™

*Week 2:* October 10-14, 2016 – Cyber from the Break Room to the Board Room

*Week 3:* October 17-21, 2016 – Recognizing and Combating Cybercrime

*Week 4:* October 24-28, 2016 – Our Continuously Connected Lives: What’s
Your ‘App’-titude?

*Week 5:* October 31, 2016 –Building Resilience in Critical Infrastructure

Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on these themes here on
the blog. With an eye on this week’s theme, Every Day Steps Towards Online
Safety, we recently surveyed employees, asking What is the number one thing
you tell your kids about cybersecurity?

The results were quite interesting, and varied, depending on the age of
your children. The results fell into four general categories:

*Tactical*

   - Do not click on attachments or emails from people they don’t know
   - Do not follow popup ads that lead you to believe something is wrong
   with your machine
   - Think before you click

*Trust*

   - A stranger in the cyber world can be as dangerous as one in the
   physical world
   - People aren’t always who they claim to be
   - The internet is just like the real world. Some people and places are
   good and safe. Some aren’t. Be thoughtful about where you go and who you
   talk to

*Privacy*

   - Never give out personal information
   - Your identity is valuable
   - Nothing is or stays private on the internet

*Long Term Consequences*

   - What you put online is there forever
   - Be ready to stand for and defend any statement you post online –
   forever!
   - The net never forgets

Put these four categories together and you have some pretty good, well
rounded advice to share with you kids. For more information on
cybersecurity best practices, for kids and adults, the Department of
Homeland Security has a great toolkit
<https://www.dhs.gov/stopthinkconnect-toolkit> available which we highly
recommend.

We hope you’ll join us in the discussion of cybersecurity education all
month long. Again, all of us can and must do a better job being Guardians
of the Connected World.
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