October – It’s about National Cyber Security Awareness!

By Julie Goldstein.  2017 marks the fourteenth year of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). The goal of NCSAM – celebrated every October – is to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and give all Americans the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online.

Our shared responsibility

This year’s NCSAM theme is “Our Shared Responsibility.”

We lead internet-connected, digital lives. We work, learn and play online. Even when we are not directly connected to the internet, our critical infrastructure is – the vast, worldwide connection of computers, data, and websites that supports our everyday lives.

No individual, business, or government entity is solely responsible for securing the internet. Everyone has a role in securing their part of cyberspace, including the devices and networks they use.

Now more than ever, the internet is a shared resource and securing it is our shared responsibility.

At the University of California, we have the added responsibility of ensuring that the information and systems that we use to carry out our mission of teaching, research, and public service are safeguarded. Technological protections alone are not always enough, and so all members of the UC community have a personal obligation to safeguard UC’s information and cyber resources, including their own.

Cybersecurity awareness resources at UC

In support of NCSAM, a systemwide work group has developed and compiled a variety of resources to help the UC community promote cybersecurity awareness. These include posters, video shorts, outreach presentations, tips and factsheets, ideas for getting awareness messages out to their intended audiences, and more. The UC IT Blog is running a series of cybersecurity-related articles and spotlights throughout October.

Check out the NCSAM Toolkit for UC!

Additional cybersecurity awareness information, resources, and contacts are available on UC’s Information Security Awareness website: https://security.ucop.edu/resources/security-awareness/index.html. Information about the national NCSAM campaign is available at https://staysafeonline.org/ncsam/about/.

Julie Goldstein is IT Security Analyst, UC Cyber-Risk Coordination Center, UC Office of the President.

Credit: Content for “Our Shared Responsibility” was partially adapted from StaySafeOnline.org.

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