Beginning in 2004, the president of the United States and Congress declared that every October would mark Cybersecurity Awareness Month. So this annual observation helps people recognize existing and emerging cyber threats so they can protect themselves online.
“Cyberattacks affect our day-to-day lives, our economy, and our national security. By destroying, corrupting, or stealing information from our computer systems and networks, they can impact electric grids and fuel pipelines, hospitals and police departments, businesses and schools, and many other critical services that Americans trust and rely on every day. . . . my administration is committed to partnering with private industry to keep the public safe.”
– President Joe Biden 2022 Cybersecurity Awareness Month presidential proclamation
This year’s theme is See Yourself in Cyber. Cybersecurity can be a complex subject. But people ultimately drive it through their contributions, or lack thereof, to making smart decisions online.
This year’s campaign highlights these key steps:
- Recognizing and Reporting Phishing
- Updating Your Software
- Using Strong Passwords
- Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication
More than one third of tech users fall victim to phishing, according to the National Cybersecurity Alliance. So it’s more important than ever for people to remain savvy about their online activity. That protects not only themselves, but the businesses they work for and the people they associate with.
See Yourself in Cyber
For many, cybersecurity seems like something that is the sole responsibility of a company’s IT team. But cybersecurity involves everyone. As the theme of 2022’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month promotes, it’s important that people see themselves in cybersecurity in many ways.
Individual: Take Action to Stay Safe Online
Keep software up to date, and install patches and upgrades as soon as they appear. Think before you click; is the link legitimate, or a phish attempt to capture your passwords or other personal information? Finally, keep strong passwords and enable multi-factor authentication on sensitive and work accounts.
Also, companies can promote good individual cyber hygiene through training. Skills that employees use at work to protect business information translate well to home for protecting private information in password-protected accounts such as banking, health portals, and email.
Community: Join the Cyber Workforce
Cybersecurity is a fast-growing and ever-changing landscape. If you’ve considered joining the cybersecurity workforce, now is the perfect time! Leaders across the country are building a cybersecurity workforce that is bigger and more diverse. Also, that workforce solves problems and keeps people and businesses alike safe online.
Industry: Be Part of the Solution
We’re all stronger together, and industry partners are no exception. For example, operational collaboration helps companies share information to reduce risk and build resilience. Similarly, partnerships between industry-leading cybersecurity vendors benefit companies by creating world-class integrated solutions.
Don’t Go Alone: The Value of Cybersecurity Partnerships
The cybersecurity market is on a fast rise. Technavio recently reported that the market share will grow by $189.7 billion between 2020 and 2025. This is exciting for the cybersecurity industry. But it can feel daunting to companies looking to find a suitable and trustworthy cybersecurity partner.
Key indicators to look for include:
- A diverse portfolio of solutions and services that support your company’s specific needs
- Credentialed professionals with extensive experience and certification
- Ability to seamlessly integrate with all existing systems within your company
- Ongoing maintenance, support, and updates to ensure solutions continuously function at the top of their game
- Vendor relations with other technology providers to enhance existing services and solutions
Ultimately, the goal is to protect both assets and people. For corporations, this involves onboarding solutions that safeguard data that enables the company to perform “business as usual.”
Systems, connections, and even what it means to do “business as usual” differ vastly from one company to the next. That means it’s virtually impossible to create one perfect solution in cybersecurity. This is where the ecosystem of partnerships comes in.
Also, partners are a vital piece in the holistic security plan. First, they help customers find threats, gain visibility into those threats, and create services to help in removing the threats. Finally, they put the right solutions in place to prepare for threats.
See How PKWARE Leverages Partnerships
Cybersecurity Starts with You
Cybersecurity aims to keep the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. Data should remain accessible only to those who need it. It should be accurate in order to produce the best outcomes. And, data should be accessible to those who need it whenever they need it.
Because of that, at PKWARE we use extensive experience in the market—nearly four decades—along with a variety of strategic partnerships. Together, these ensure that sensitive and private data remains protected, no matter what threat an attacker uses against it.
PKWARE has the capabilities you need to remain protected against the ever-evolving threat landscape:
- Automated, ongoing data discovery that finds all your data, no matter where it sits across the enterprise
- Remediation such as masking and encryption, which render data unreadable to unauthorized people
See how we can help by requesting a free demo now.
Ultimately, a company’s security is only as strong as each individual within it. As you review cybersecurity tips and tricks throughout October for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, remember to See Yourself in Cyber and take ownership of the part you play in cybersecurity at work, at home, and everywhere you connect.