October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month in America and each year this program brings more and more attention to issues that should be of concern to anyone who uses a computer (which is just about everyone these days). NCSAM also produces a lot of very helpful security awareness material and security how-to articles for computer users. This page of resource links at the NCSAM website is a good example.
This year NCSAM is such a big deal it has taken me the first 10 days to catch my breath and blog about what's been happening so far. I have already spoken at one NCSAM event and participated in two NCSAM Twitter chats (more on those and future chats in a moment).
Later in the month I'm doing some more speaking, including a free webinar on the main themes that have emerged from NCSAM events and activities this year. On top of all this, Europe has also designated October as Security Awareness Month and of course ESET is participating there as well. So, without further ado, here is what's going on and how to find out more:
Handy Cyber Security Awareness Month links
- The official U.S. National Cyber Security Awareness Month website offers loads of resources and links to events around the country.
- The NCSAM Twitter Chats are a lot of fun. If you use Twitter, you can tune into these by following the hashtags #NCSAM and ChatSTC on each of the five Thursdays in October.
- NCSAM kicked off here in San Diego with Cyberfest 2014, organized by Securing Our eCity, the non-profit, community-wide security awareness organization. Cyberfest is annual one-day event, held every October, and this year's theme was the Internet of Things or IoT.
Other NCSAM activities
- Another San Diego NCSAM event is coming up on Wednesday, October 15, hosted by the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE). In fact, this is a national keystone event in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the the National Cyber Security Alliance. The title is Securing Our Critical Infrastructure & The Internet of Things and the half-day event has a panel format. You can watch it live at this streaming video link.
- Later in the month, I will be on a panel at the two-day Cyber Maryland 2014 event in Baltimore, October 29-30.
- Also check out the pre-conference networking event in Baltimore on October 28: Cybertini Networking Reception.
The Global Cyber Security Awareness trend
One of the things I love about working at ESET is the truly global nature of the company. ESET is active in over 180 countries and we have researchers in at least 10 of them. Naturally, the ESET folks in Europe are supporting the EU Cyber Security Month. You will find helpful security awareness content on our We Live Security portal which is now published in three languages (Spanish and German as well as English - check the language selector at the top right of the web page).
ESET is also supporting awareness events in Europe. ESET Security Specialist Thomas Uhlemann will be in Munich, Germany, speaking at an IT privacy and security conference on October 29. This is part of the Sicherheit ist Chefsache event.
Additionally, ESET is a strong supporter of Argentina Cibersegura in Latin America, which is similar to Securing our eCity in California. This innovative pair of non-profit organizations conduct community-wide security awareness programs all year round, aimed at creating safe digital neighborhoods that protect every citizen programs, conferences and good practices.
If you know of any cyber security awareness events in your area, please leave a comment and let us know.
