Everything you need to know about Cyber Security Awareness Month 2022

October of every year is Cyber Security Awareness Month.

This is an important time for people and organisations to take measures to improve their cyber security practices to mitigate the risk of potential cyber attacks.

Throughout October, organisations educate and offer resources to individuals and businesses to raise awareness of the dangers of cyber crime and educate them on how they can protect themselves.

This year's theme “See yourself in Cyber” emphasises the important role people as individuals play in cyber security, meaning every bit of effort they put into improving cyber security and raising awareness will contribute to making the organisations they work in and their community as a whole more cyber resilient.

To kick-off Cyber Security Awareness Month, Phriendly Phishing will be turning its attention to four key areas of cyber security; passwords and phrases, social engineering, safety online, and cyberbullying.  

It's the perfect time to engage your organisation with fun, impactful content with Phriendly Phishing’s free employee toolkit, which includes guides, posters and other useful assets for your team.

Passwords and phrases

Passwords are one of the oldest methods of authentication and it’s still used extensively today by individuals and businesses alike. It’s estimated that 14% of all internet users have at least 25 accounts that are protected by passwords.

Despite being the most widely used method of authentication, passwords are extremely easy for cyber criminals to figure out and steal. 53% of internet users simply use the same password for multiple accounts, and because of this, many hackers can deduce passwords just by doing some research on their victims.

Using passwords is more convenient for many people than other authentication methods, and it’s unlikely that passwords will stop being popular anytime soon. So it’s important for people, especially employees, to create strong and unique passwords, and even use multi-factor authentication to keep themselves and their organisations safe from cyber crimes.

Social engineering

Social engineering is when scammers and cyber criminals manipulate people online to divulge important information, such as passwords, personal details and financial details.

One reason why cyber criminals use social engineering is that they find it easier to get the information they need to infiltrate an organisation’s network directly from people, rather than trying to find vulnerabilities in the organisation’s cyber security infrastructure that they can exploit.

To launch a social engineering attack, bad actors research their intended victims before exploiting them. One of the most common types of social engineering attacks is phishing.  

Fortunately, these attacks can be reduced when internet users are given proper phishing awareness training to teach them about the typical signs of a scam email.  

Safety online

The internet can be a dangerous place to navigate for the uninformed. Cyber criminals leave their mark everywhere on the internet and if an individual isn’t careful with their online activities, they could easily fall victim to a cyber attack.

Clickbait and scam websites are common on the internet and clicking on suspicious pop ups or visiting certain websites could potentially lead to people’s computers getting infected with malware or having their information stolen.

By raising awareness of safe online practices, internet users can learn how to navigate cyber space safely without putting themselves and others at risk.

‍Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is when harassment, ridicule and bullying occur online. Social media platforms, social networking events, emails or programs at work, and even online gaming may be targets for this type of bullying. Anyone and everyone can be vulnerable to cyberbullying.

About 53% of Australians have reported being cyber bullied and 79% of young people aged between 10-18 years have experienced bullying on YouTube. Unfortunately, many of these cases go unreported.

This kind of bullying can happen at school and in the workplace and measures need to be taken to raise awareness of the negative effects it can have on people and what should be done to stop it and foster a more postive online experience.  

Raise cyber security awareness with our custom toolkit

This Cyber Security Awareness Month, At Phriendly Phishing, we will be doing our part to help your employees learn how to protect themselves online and prevent cyber attacks on your organisation.

We’ve put together a toolkit containing helpful resources, all in one place to save you time, that cover all the key areas; passwords, social engineering, cyberbullying and safety online.

Turn your employees into cyber security pros this Cyber Security Awareness Month, download our toolkit today!