October Is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

4it Inc. is a cybersecurity expert ready to offer assistance. Our team has vast experience in monitoring and protecting online systems, identifying threats early on, and enabling quick recovery from any damage done.

October Is Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Improve Your Protection

October is Cybersecurity Month. With this in mind, everyone should take this opportunity to improve their security and protect themselves from attacks. Cybersecurity awareness month, previously known as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, was launched in October 2004 by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Every October, these agencies create awareness about online security and practice safe internet behavior through various activities.

What’s the 2021 Theme?

Each new cybersecurity month has a unique message. Each week of October 2021’s theme highlights the areas CISA and NCSA are focusing on.

Week of October 4 (Week 1): Be Cyber Smart.
Week of October 11 (Week 2): Fight the Phish
Week of October 18 (Week 3): Explore. Experience. Share. – Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week
Week of October 25 (Week 4): Cybersecurity First

The overall month’s theme is Be Cyber Smart. To do your part in promoting cyber security awareness, you can use the hashtag together with the month’s theme in all your communication and marketing materials. Outreaching or spreading awareness ensures everyone is aware and takes steps to protect their space from cyber-attacks.

Why is Cybersecurity Important?

In Q1 of 2020, cyber-attacks increased by 17%, where targeted attacks were 77%. The main cyber threats were:

Social engineering where 90% were phishing
Ransomware
DDoS attacks
Third-party software
Cloud computing vulnerabilities

2021 has also had its share of attacks. Venture Security estimates the cybersecurity threats will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. The rate of business attacks is predicted to increase to one every 11 seconds. The most common threats in 2021 include:

Malware Attacks
Phishing Attacks
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks
Man-in-the-Middle Attack.
Credential Stuffing Attacks
Password Spraying Attacks
Mobile Device Attacks

Every business is at risk of a cyber-attack, making every October’s cybersecurity awareness month important for everyone everywhere.

How to Improve Protection

The best way you can promote a more secure future is by protecting yourself now. Every organization, business, and individual should be aware of the online attacks occurring all year round and those that peak as the festive season approaches.

Don’t wait for an attack to happen. Protect yourself now by making sure your organization’s cybersecurity awareness is top-notch. How do you do this?

Host a Cybersecurity Awareness Lunch

A cybersecurity meeting over lunch with the employees and other stakeholders is an excellent starting point. It creates awareness and allows employees to ask any related questions and understand the importance of protecting the business. To make it more impactful, invite cybersecurity experts to lunch.

Ask them to give a presentation on online attacks,
Let them explain what to do when under attack, and
How to protect yourself from cyber-attacks.

Carry Out a Detailed Assessment of Your Cybersecurity

Before you start improving your cybersecurity protections, take the time to assess your current level of protection. A detailed assessment will help determine what areas are vulnerable and need improvement.

It also reveals how prepared you are for an attack, what other steps you need to take, which experts should be involved in making improvements. You’ll also discover the factors that can improve your cybersecurity protections. During the assessment, things to do are:

Identify your business’s strengths and weaknesses
Determine where the threats are coming from
Know how frequently you experience attacks
Understand your business’ preparedness for an attack
Create a plan of action on how to improve cybersecurity protections in your organization

Host Training, Seminars, and Webinars on Cyber Security Month

Every cybersecurity month should include training, seminars, and webinars on cybersecurity. These should be geared towards creating awareness of the threats out there and how to protect your investment. During these sessions, discuss what other measures you should take to keep your business safe such as conducting regular security audits and refining policies and practices.

Involve a Cybersecurity Expert

Cybersecurity experts have the skills and knowledge needed to identify weaknesses in your security practices. They also advise how to improve cybersecurity protections, minimize risks and even deal with a cyber-attack if one occurs. An expert will:

Carry out a vulnerability assessment
Advice on industry-specific strategies that will boost your overall cybersecurity protections
Help you create a plan of action that will prevent attacks and keep your business safe
Offer guidance on implementing any changes to specific security practices
Offer expert assistance whenever a threat is detected

Sometimes, you might not even realize a danger until significant damage occurs. Having an expert periodically monitor your systems can help identify threats early on. Doing so gives you time to take the necessary steps, such as limit exposure and prevent data loss.

When you have an expert by your side, you’re assured of a safe and secure future. The key is to invest in a reliable cybersecurity expert to help protect the organization from attacks and minimize damage. This cybersecurity month, discuss how an expert can help you keep your organization’s data secure, prevent losses and deal with any aftermath of an attack.

Work with them to create a plan that will strengthen your cybersecurity defenses and increase. The benefits your organization will reap are many. These include:

Increased productivity as the risk of failure drastically reduces
Increasing customer satisfaction levels as they are assured of data integrity and security at your organization
Increased revenue from increased customer satisfaction levels
Protect the business from potential attacks that might cost a lot
Assurance that you’re complying with the set industry and government standards
Maintain a good reputation as a safe and secure workplace
Lessen the impact of any adverse publicity resulting from attacks on your organization’s data security
Avoid fines and prosecution for non-compliance with data protection regimes such as GDPR, among others

As you will realize, the cost of mitigating a cyber-attack is way higher than the cost of implementing cybersecurity.

Who to Consult

We are GDPR compliant with data protection protocols and proactively seek out potential risks before escalating to attacks. You’re assured of a readily available customer support team to assist with any security issues that may arise.

We also offer managed IT services, cloud security, and data storage solutions, among others.

October Is Cybersecurity Awareness Month