Sophos Cloud Optix
Today is the start of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), a US initiative aimed at making sure everyone has the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online.
But it isn’t just for those of you in the USA. Everyone, wherever they are, should use this month as a way to get clued up on security, help educate others on how to stay safe online, and spread the security message.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably already pretty clued up on how to use the internet safely. But are your friends? What about your family?
‘Our Shared Responsibility’
That’s the theme this year – so let’s make sure we all do our bit. Get started by reading our three essential tasks you can do to help your friends and family.
And because it’s the 10th anniversary of NCSAM, we’ve come up with 10 security topics that have hit the headlines over the last decade. From the hand-wavingly general to the pointedly specific, it makes an interesting read.
We’ll be writing a lot more about NCSAM over the next month, so stay tuned.
Oh, and to mark the month we’re giving away 5 goody bags!
We’ll be selecting one winner a week from our list of newsletter subscribers to say thanks to our loyal fans.
If you already receive our newsletter you’ll be automatically entered into the draw. And if you’re yet to subscribe and you’d like to be in with a chance of winning, you can sign up here.
We’ll be in touch at the end of the month if you’ve won. Good luck!
Image of gift bag courtesy of Shutterstock.
Here we go again – even after 10 years – namely "Blame the Victim!"
All this places obligations on the most inexpert person in the IT "chain" – the end-user.
What about – for 2013 – we all put the obligation BACK on the ICT industry itself – the REAL ICT industry and not the cybersecurity "add-on" industry?
Yes – 10 years ago – the USA's computing research association (CRA) held a summit on "grand challenges" in information security – with National Science Foundation (NSF) and Ffederal Gov't support – in Virginia and produced 4 recommendations which were then presented to the USA's Congress (16 – 19 November 2003, Airlie House, Warrenton. Virginia. USA..) These were :
1. Eliminate epidemic style attacks within 10 years (nothing from industry on that level!)
2. Develop tools and principles that allow construction of large scale systems for important societal applications that are highly trustworthy despite being attractive targets (well, maybe some work there!)
3. Within 10 years quantitative information systems risk management is as good as quantitative financial risk management (added supply chain complexity + cloud + mobility/BYOD etc have really hindered that one!)
4. For the dynamic, pervasive computing environments of the future, give end-users security they can understand and privacy they can control ( industry response – ZERO!!! If anything, security "understanding" for mobile/smart phone/tablet systems etc is WORSE than it was in the past!)
Prof Bill Caelli ( attendee at the 2003 grand challenges summit).