October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month which is an annual campaign to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. The Internet touches almost all aspects of everyone’s daily life, whether we realize it or not. National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) is designed to engage and educate public and private sector partners through events and initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity, provide them with tools and resources needed to stay safe online, and increase the resiliency of the Nation in the event of a cyber incident.

Week 2: October 9-13 – Theme: Cybersecurity in the Workplace is Everyone’s Business
Creating a culture of cybersecurity is critical for all organizations large and small businesses, academic institutions, non-profits, and government agencies – and must be a shared responsibility among all employees. Cybercrime is a critical threat with social engineering becoming more sophisticated, realistic, and difficult to recognize. Phishing attacks are one of the most common forms of cybercrime. 

According to a Verizon study 23% of recipients immediately opened phishing messages, and 11% of them went on to click on a link or open an attachment. You can be sure that all of those people have been warned about phishing.  Just as interesting, and worrisome, is that it happens fast. It takes an average of only 82 seconds from the time an attacker launches a phishing campaign, until the first victim takes the bait and clicks a malicious link.

Don’t Get Hooked by Phishing