Held every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month raises awareness about the importance of cyber security and aims to educate individuals, businesses, and institutions on best practices for staying safe and secure in the digital world. Launched by the US Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) in 2004, it’s also known as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in the US.

Secure our world

This year’s theme is ‘Secure Our World’ and its key messages focus on several ways to stay safe online:

• Use strong passwords: create long, random, and distinct passwords, incorporating all four character types: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
• Use a password manager: these invaluable tools can help you generate and store strong passwords for each of your accounts
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA): a password alone isn’t enough to secure your online accounts but enabling MFA greatly reduces your risk of being hacked and is especially important for email, social media, and financial accounts
• Recognise and report phishing: phishing attempts often aim to trick us into opening attachments or disclosing personal information
• Keep your software updated: this is the most effective way to ensure your devices have the latest security patches and updates.

Although cybercriminals have become more sophisticated and the threat landscape has grown immensely since the first Cybersecurity Awareness Month 20 years ago, the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023 emphasises that 98% of cyber threats can still be mitigated by implementing good cyber hygiene.

According to the 2024 Oh Behave! report from the NCSA:

• Eighty-four percent of people consider online safety a priority
• The majority (83%) of those who accessed cyber security training at their workplace or place of education found it useful
• Only 38% of people use unique passwords for all their accounts
• About a third of respondents began using a password manager after receiving cyber training
• Overall, 61% of survey participants expressed worry about becoming cybercrime victims
• More than half (57%) reported having intermediate or advanced cyber security knowledge
• Over a third (35%) of participants included personal information in their passwords
• Eighty-one percent of participants had heard of MFA and, of those, 8% have used or and 16% have stopped using it
• Overall, most participants (67%) are confident that they can recognise phishing emails

Ensure your organisation is secure

A great place to seek guidance around getting the basics right is the UK National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Essentials .

Quorum Cyber hosts a range of events, webinars, and other insightful content to provide you guidance on staying ahead of cyber security threats. Browse our collection of resources to learn more.

Quorum Cyber helps organisation of all shapes and sizes to implement Cyber Essentials, so feel free to contact us today to find out how we can help you.

Visit the Cybersecurity Infrastructure & Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month website to find more tips for the month.