National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2011

October 1, 2011 | By Damon Armour, IT Security Officer, contributing writer

 

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). During the month, ASU will increase its focus on information security by addressing topics that are relevant to both work and home, for example, protecting your identity, preventing phishing, and dealing with malicious software. Also, university-wide communications will be distributed during October that contain useful information on security details. A NCSAM webpage has been created on the ITS website,http://www.aug.edu/its/security/ncsam/ that has more details.

What is National Cyber Security Awareness Month?  According to Stay Safe Online:

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), conducted every October since 2004, is a national public awareness campaign to encourage everyone to protect their computers and our nation’s critical cyber infrastructure.

Cyber security requires vigilance 365 days per year. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the primary drivers of NCSAM, coordinate to shed a brighter light in October on what home users, schools, businesses and governments need to do in order to protect their computers, children, and data.

Throughout October, ASU’s first security awareness training program—Security for All—will be made available through GeorgiaVIEW (https://aug.view.usg.edu/). All faculty, staff, and student assistants will be required to complete the training by Oct. 31, 2011.

The Security for All training program, which will become an annual program, takes between 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The program has the following areas of focus, useful for both work and home:

• Password security
• Downloading files online
• Using e-mail responsibly
• Sharing files/information
• Protecting personal information
• Review of campus information security-related policies

In order for National Cyber Security Awareness Month to be a success each year, I ask the faculty, staff, and students of the university to help spread awareness of cyber security’s importance not only to the ASU community, but to the community at large. The more educated we are on cyber security matters, the safer this generation and future generations will be. It is prudent to apply good habits acquired at work and home to all aspects of your digital life.

Resources:
Stay Safe Online:
http://staysafeonline.org/