This year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month has been a great success! We’re taking a closer look at why this month matters, plus easy ways your business can immediately start strengthening its security posture.

How It Started

Back in 2004, as cybersecurity threats became more commonplace, the President of the United States and Congress officially declared October Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Since its founding, this month has been a collaborative effort between government agencies and private industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and empower individuals to stay safe online.

Why It Matters

According to Norton’s Cybersafety Insights Report, nearly 2 in 3 adults say they are spending more time online than ever before. With the internet playing an increasingly central role in the lives of Americans, the importance of good cybersecurity hygiene is higher than ever.

Thanks to Cybersecurity Awareness Month, more businesses and individual internet users across the nation are getting the information, tools, and best practices they need to secure their online information.

Tips for “Seeing Yourself in Cyber”

This year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme is “see yourself in cyber,” a reminder that while cybersecurity seems like a complex subject, it’s all about people. What does that mean for your business? It means efforts to boost your cyber defenses can’t fall solely on your management or IT teams. They need to be an organization-wide effort.

Throughout the month, the CISA and NCA have been highlighting these four easy steps that you and your employees can take to start improving your cyber hygiene.

Recognize & Report Phishing

Before you click any links, take a moment to think and listen to your intuition. If something feels off, there’s a good chance the link is an unauthorized attempt to gain access to your sensitive data.

Keep Your Software Up to Date

The older your software, the more vulnerabilities there are for a bad actor to exploit. Regularly check for any software updates or, better yet, turn on automatic updates.

Improve Your Password Hygiene

Passwords should be long, randomly generated, and unique to each account. Consider leveraging a password manager, which can generate, store, and encrypt your passwords for you.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

Even the strongest passwords are still vulnerable to attacks. Multi-factor authentication adds an additional layer of security that makes stealing your login credentials significantly more difficult.

Improve Your Cybersecurity Year Round

Don’t let Cybersecurity Awareness Month be the only time cybersecurity takes priority. With AccountabilIT, you get an award-winning Managed Security Service Provider ready to boost your security year round. Connect with us today to learn more about our right-sized cybersecurity solutions.