All over the United States, people are observing “Cybersecurity Awareness Month” in October. That’s great! There is a WHOLE month devoted to cybersecurity! If only we could make it a National Holiday, a day where hackers take the day off, and everyone is given the day to change ALL their passwords. We can call it “Cyber Hygiene Day!” Probably not.

As helpful as it is to have an entire month devoted to cybersecurity, I propose that EVERY month is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. We are never done, and our data is never safe. The hackers don’t take a minute to reflect on the many ways they try to separate you from your data or your money. It’s a 24/7 industry, and the employees of that industry never take a day off. 

As UT Policy requires, the campus has started its annual compliance training initiative, including cyber awareness training. We remind you every week of some aspect of cyber security. Why would we only do this in October?

Starting this week, in addition to the annual cybersecurity awareness training you are asked to complete before the end of the year, you will receive a weekly email from KnowBe4 labeled “Scam of the Week.” It will NOT be a phishing email asking you to click on a link or open an attachment. It will be informational in nature. KnowBe4 is the company the campus has engaged in helping train employees to recognize phishing emails. We will continue the phishing campaign over the next 12 months, but the “Scam of the Week” emails will be current topics on the methods cybersecurity investigators are seeing hackers use NOW. Hopefully, it will help prepare you when you encounter one of these methods.

While we don’t have a National Holiday or “Cyber Hygiene” day on our calendars, it doesn’t mean you can’t take 15 minutes to take stock of how you protect personal and professional data. Not to bore you with repetition, let me emphasize how important it is to keep your computers and devices up-to-date with the latest, supported software. Let me remind you to use a separate password for all your logins. Sure, it’s UT Policy not to share passwords, but it’s also good common sense. You don’t have one key that fits your office, home, and car (I hope?).

Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and please read the Scam of the Week when it hits your mailbox.