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.

ITS Cyber Security Awareness Events

Week 1: October 2-6: STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™: Simple Steps to Online Safety 

Week 2: October 9-13: Cyber Security in the Workplace Is Everyone’s Business

Week 3: October 16-20: Today's Predictions for Tomorrow's Internet

Week 4: October 23-27: The Internet Wants You: Consider a Career in Cyber Security

Week 5: October 30-31: Protecting Critical Infrastructure From Cyber Threats

ITS Cyber Security Awareness Events

Week 1: Tuesday, October 3 at 10:40 am - Tech Talk "The Safety Net: Protecting the Nest" Location: James E. Shepard Library, First Floor Lobby

Week 2: Wednesday, October 11 at 1:00 pm - Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Harris Location: TBA

Week 3: Tuesday, October 19 at 10:40 am - Keynote Speaker: Mr. Zachery Mitcham Topic: "The Road to a Security Career" Location: James E. Shepard Memorial Library TechnoScholar Classroom

Week 4: Thursday, October 26 at 10:40 am - Informational Table Location: James E. Shepard Library, First 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:

1. Always practice good password management. It is important to have a strong password that you can remember but no one else can guess. For example, you can create a sentence that you would remember such as "Eagles will fly high today at 2 PM!". Then take the first letter of every word, including punctuation. The example password would be "Ewfht@2PM!".
2. Create backups of your important documents. Backups help you restore your data in case of computer failure, accidental deletion, a natural disaster or malicious software.
3. Keep your device up-to-date. It is important to keep your device up-to-date with the latest software patches. Software patches help plug any security vulnerabilities found in software that can be used to infect your device.

Did you know that as many as 35% of data breaches come from Higher Ed? Take the quiz at the link below to see if you are putting NCCU in 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.