Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Overview
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month! For more than 20 years we have spotlighted the importance of taking daily action to reduce risks when online and using connected devices. This year, we focus on the government entities and small and medium businesses that are vital to protecting the systems and services that sustain us every day and make America a great place to live and do business: the nation’s critical infrastructure. Much of the nation’s critical infrastructure is owned and operated by state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as private companies. Additionally, vendors, suppliers, and other parts of the supply chain that support or are connected to critical infrastructure play a critical cybersecurity role.
- Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA.gov
| "CISA’s Acting Director (Gottumukkala) discusses our focus on government entities and small and medium businesses that are vital to protecting the systems and services that sustain us every day and make America a great place to live and do business." |
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Standard Safety Tips for Online Activity
Online Safety overview provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Never share pictures of yourself online that you wouldn’t want to be seen by your family, teachers, or a total stranger.
- Set user profile to private so only real friends can get access. Know who you’re chatting with – a “friend” is not always a friend.
- Treat people online as you would in person: be polite!
- Don’t share personal information online such as your full name, school, address or phone number, or user passwords.
- Don’t meet up in person with anyone you met online.
- Report suspected abuse to law enforcement or a trusted adult.
Resource: Alie Bursztein, Stay safe online in 10 easy steps
Increased Threat for Older Adults
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Elder scamming has become rampant in every avenue of the internet. "In 2024 alone, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that people age 60 and over collectively lost $4.8 billion dollars to internet fraud." (NCOA) Whether it is email phishing, disguised redirects and pop-ups, or account hacking, older individuals are targeted at a higher. There are several organizations dedicated to preventing this abuse and providing remedies to victims, including: Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Trade Commission, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and more.
But just as you make a habit of locking your front door or fastening your seat belt, you need to adopt a few behaviors to help keep you safe online.- StaySafeOnline.org
AI
In a joint agency report entitled, Engaging with Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI was defined as "the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages." While AI is becoming more end-user accessible and intuitive it also being implemented in enterprise roles for complex machines - "AI is also increasingly used to handle activities traditionally undertaken by humans such as sorting large data sets, automating routine tasks, creative endeavours and augmenting business activities such as customer engagement, logistics, medical diagnosis, and cyber security."So, what are some risks of using AI and implementing within my organization?
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Common Threats Identified in AI Models
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Data Poisoning of an AI Model
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Input Manipulation Attacks
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Generative AI Hallucinations
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| Privacy and Intellectual Property Concerns |
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Model Stealing Attacks
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For full details on these threats and the "Mitigation considerations for organizations" please see pages 6-12 of the Engaging with Artificial Intelligence (AI) by clicking the button below.