October 2024 marks the 21st Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which bring together government and industry to raise the bar for cybersecurity awareness—helping everyone, from individuals to businesses, stay safe online in our ever-connected world.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “Secure Our World,” reminding all of us that protecting ourselves online doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s about taking a few simple, everyday steps to keep our digital lives safe.
Secure Our World has a particular focus on how individuals, families, and small- to medium-sized businesses can help Secure Our World by taking four simple steps.
So, what can we do? Let’s break it down:
Lock down your logins with strong passwords and a password manager. Strong passwords are like the keys to your digital house—make them long, random, and unique. And why not use a password manager to do the hard work for you? It creates and saves secure passwords, so you don’t have to remember every single one!
Double up your security with multifactor authentication (MFA). Think of MFA as an extra layer of protection for accessing your most important accounts—email, social media, financials. With MFA, even if someone cracks your password, they won’t get in without that second form of verification. Turn it on today for any account that offers it!
Recognize and avoid phishing attempts, scams or tricks. We have resources to help you spot the scams. We’ve all gotten those suspicious texts or emails, but if something feels off, don’t click! Be cautious with unsolicited messages, urgent requests, or other phishing attempts asking for personal info—verify through trusted channels. As we like to say: “Think before you click!”
Keep your devices safe by updating software regularly. New updates often come with important security fixes, so don’t ignore them! Better yet, enable automatic updates to make sure your devices are always running the latest security patches.
CISA is here to help everyone make smarter cybersecurity decisions. Want to get involved and help share actions on how to stay safe online? Download this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 Toolkit from CISA’s website for free resources, tips, and materials you can use to spread the word and make a difference!
Michael S. McCarthy is the external affairs officer for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
