This October marks the 20th anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybersecurity Awareness Month 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.
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. For 20 Octobers and counting, 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.
Starting this year, the new theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is Secure Our World, with the main messaging revolving around four key cybersecurity best practices:
- Use strong passwords and understanding the benefits of using a password manager and dispelling existing myths around password manager security and ease of use.
- Turning on multifactor authentication on personal devices and business networks.
- Recognizing and reporting phishing – still one of the primary threat actions used by cybercriminals today.
- Installing updates on a regular basis and turning on automated updates.
