Cyber Security Awareness Month

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). NCSAM is spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). It is a collaborative effort among educational institutions, government and businesses to promote Internet safety and data security. Throughout the month of October, NCCU ITS will share resources and give tips to you regarding cyber security to help raise awareness. Make sure you follow our announcements in myEOL and on our social media pages. Below are the weekly themes given by the NCSAM National Campaign, that we will use as our guide.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month Themes

Week 1 (October 1 - October 5): Make Your Home a Haven for Online Safety

Week 2 (October 8 - October 12): Millions of Rewarding Jobs: Educating for a Career in Cyber Security

Week 3 (October 15 - October 19): It's Everyone's Job to Ensure Online Safety at Work

Week 4 (October 22 - 26): Safeguarding the Nation's Critical Infrastructure

ITS Cyber Security Awareness Events

Week 1 (October 1 - October 5): Tuesday, October 2, at 10:40 am
Informational Table with Zachery Mitcham
Location: James E. Shepard Memorial Library, First Floor Lobby

Week 2 (October 8 - October 12): Tuesday, October 9, at 1 pm
Zachery Mitcham, Topic: It's Everyone's Job to Ensure Online Safety at Work
Location: James E. Shepard Memorial Library, Second Floor Lobby

Week 3 (October 15 - October 19): Thursday, October 18, at 10:40 am
Informational Table with "Zach the Security Cat," Zachery Mitcham, Chief Information Security and Compliance Officer
Come talk to Zach about careers in the IT security field and/or being secure online.
Location: James E. Shepard Memorial Library, Second Floor Lobby

Week 4 (October 22-26): Tuesday, October 23, at 10:40 am
Speaker Dr. Erastus Karanja
Location: James E. Shepard Memorial Library, Second Floor Lobby

Cyber Security Tips

We encourage you to ALWAYS practice good cyber security habits, as they are essential to protecting your computer systems and potentially your physical safety. Help raise cyber security awareness by sharing the tips you find useful. To get you started, here are 3 simple tips (from https://stopthinkconnect.org) to assist you in being vigilant in your technology usage:

1. Think Before You Act: Be wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true or ask for personal information.
2. Share with Care: Think before posting about yourself and others online. Consider what a post reveals, who might see it and how it could be perceived now and in the future.
3. Keep It Safe: Having separate passwords for every account helps to thwart cybercriminals. At a minimum, separate your work and personal accounts and make sure that your critical accounts have the strongest passwords.

According to an article posted by EAB on July 27, 2017, "Researchers found that the cost of a data breach in U.S. education is higher than the cost in other sectors and countries. The average cost per compromised record at U.S. education organizations is $245, compared with an average cost of $225 across all U.S. organizations and just $200 across education organizations worldwide."

Take the quiz at the link below to see if you are putting NCCU at risk of a security breach:

http://www.emc.com/microsites/workplacesecurity/index.htm

Follow the national conversation with the hashtag #CyberAware on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.