The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance, along with other Federal agency partners, this week kicked off the 21st annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
Throughout the month of October, CISA and its partners will educate the public on how to stay safe online, focusing on this year’s theme: “Secure Our World.”
“CISA is excited to again partner with the National Cybersecurity Alliance and lead the Federal government’s efforts to reduce online risk during this 21st Cybersecurity Awareness month and every month,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement.
“Our focus is working with government and industry to raise cybersecurity awareness and help everyone, from individuals to businesses to all levels of government, stay safe online in our ever-connected world. Protecting ourselves online is about taking a few simple, everyday steps to keep our digital lives safe,” Easterly added.
CISA launched the enduring theme for cybersecurity – “Secure Our World” – in September 2023. The campaign includes public service announcements (PSAs) that are promoted widely across the United States on television, radio, digital ads, billboards, and more. It also includes digital content, a toolkit, and other cybersecurity resources.
During a Cybersecurity Awareness Month kickoff event on Wednesday, CISA Deputy Director Nitin Natarajan said the agency is “excited about the traction” it’s seeing with the Secure Our World program.
However, Natarajan stressed that “this year, it’s about taking that awareness and creating action.”
“With the 21st Cybersecurity Awareness Month now underway, we would expect that we would see big improvements in preparedness against cyber threats,” he said. “We are much better off than where we were two decades ago due to the great work by our public and private sector partners around the world and across the nation. But emerging technologies constantly change the landscape, so we still have a long way to go to raise cyber hygiene to where we all want it – which is why Cybersecurity Awareness Month is so important in jumpstarting those conversations.”
This October and year-round, CISA is challenging everyone to take four simple steps to stay safe online: use strong passwords, turn on multi-factor authentication, recognize and report phishing, and update software.
Harry Wingo, the deputy national cyber director within the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) also joined the kickoff event to encourage attendees to join the cybersecurity workforce – noting that there are about 500,000 open jobs in cybersecurity.
“To those of you who are encouraged and energized by Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I encourage you to join us,” Wingo said. “Make no mistake, a career in cybersecurity helps protect our nation. It contributes to our economic prosperity, but also our national security and it also helps to ensure that America remains the greatest innovator of technology in the history of the world.”
Wingo also highlighted ONCD’s new cybersecurity hiring sprint, dubbed “Service for America,” in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The sprint – which will last through the end of October – is a Biden-Harris administration effort that aims to connect more Americans to good-paying, meaningful jobs in cybersecurity.
Those interested in getting involved can check out ONCD’s “Service for America: Cyber is Serving Your Country” landing page, as well as the resources on CISA’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month website.
