The bad guys are getting better at what they do and becoming harder to detect. They also have a lot more ways to attack given the growth of connected devices, ranging from your mobile phone to your T.V.
The good news is there are many things you can do both at home and at work to thwart cyber threats. WaTech's Office of Cybersecurity has several fun events planned during Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October to help you stay safe online, and protect information entrusted to the state from cyberattacks.
Activities will include a virtual escape room and online quiz games. In addition, there will be weekly presentations by cybersecurity and privacy experts. State employees who attend presentations and participate in events will be entered into weekly drawings for gift cards. There also will be prizes for winners of the escape room and cyber quiz competitions.
This year, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is focusing on four steps everyone can take to stay safe online:
- Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication.
- Using strong passwords.
- Recognizing and reporting phishing, and
- Updating your software to close known vulnerabilities.
WaTech's Hacktober events are aimed at educating everyone about how to take these steps to protect their accounts and devices, as well as provide insights on other security-related topics.
This year's lineup:
- Cybersecurity escape rooms: Starting today, state employees can sign up for WaTech's virtual cybersecurity escape rooms. This will be a competitive event for state agencies. The top three teams from different agencies with the fastest times will have a run-off in a different virtual escape room during the final week of October to determine the Hacktober champ! Winners get a custom-designed background for Microsoft teams and state bragging rights!
- Cybersecurity awareness presentations: We have cybersecurity awareness presentations scheduled each week during October, with most running from noon to 1 p.m. They will be recorded for later viewing. We have great speakers lined up from private and public-sector organizations.
- Kahoot! quiz games: Jessie Wachter from WaTech's Office of Cybersecurity (OCS) is hosting cybersecurity quiz competitions on Microsoft Teams each Tuesday at noon during October. A link also will be posted for state employees to play the quiz at their convenience.
- CyberMinutes: Each week, WaTech will post a CyberMinute video that provides quick overviews of cybersecurity tips, such as securing your home router and introducing the use of password managers, in roughly a minute.
To find out more, please go to our Cybersecurity Awareness Month webpage.