While we all know that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we here at Privacy and Security Matters will just bet that you didn’t know that is it also National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  In President Obama’s Proclamation of October as Cybersecurity Month, he touched upon the importance that our digital infrastructure plays in our everyday lives.  Many of us use the digital infrastructure on a daily basis giving it little consideration unless our internet goes down or our smart phone dies.

To help educate consumers on the cyber threats the President encouraged people to check out the Stop.Think.Connect. campaign led by the Department of Homeland Security.   Stop.Think.Connect. is a national campaign to help people understand cyber threats and how to protect their online privacy. The site has helpful tools for everyone; it has specific resources for students, parents and educators, young professionals, older Americans, government, industry, small business and law enforcement.  Each category contains the overall Cybersecurity 101 card that outlines general types of cyber risks and ways to protect yourself from being the victim of a cyber-attack.  There are also documents containing group-specific threats, such as, the “Small Business Tip Card” which gives statistics on cyber threats affecting small businesses (did you know 40% of all cyber-attacks target business with fewer than 500 employees?) and helpful tips for preventing cyber-attacks and resources if your organization is attacked. The site also provides presentations and planning guides to help businesses start planning their cyber security framework.