Cybersecurity Awareness Month: 4 Ways to Participate

We live in a world of modern digital companies and users have never had so much freedom. We can build anything with cloud apps and services. We can work from anywhere. Learn from anywhere. Shop and surf from anywhere, on any device. But so can the bad guys.

What is Cybersecurity Awareness Month?

Back in 2004 when more of the global interactions shifted online and bad actors followed, the United States President and Congress declared that October would be Cybersecurity Awareness Month. During this time, government and private industry collaborate to raise awareness about digital security and to empower everyone to protect their personal data from digital forms of crime. Companies share content that helps develop readers' protection skills while also taking the time to focus on increasing employees' cybersecurity knowledge.

This year's theme is See Yourself in Cyber. While cybersecurity can seem complex, this is a reminder for security practitioners as well as individuals that cybersecurity is actually about protecting people.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds everyone that there are all kinds of ways to keep your data protected. It can make a huge difference even by practicing the basics of cybersecurity.

Four actions you can take now

This year, the general focus is on four key behaviors:

• Enabling multi-factor authentication (using factors with strong assurance)
• Using strong passwords and a password manager (or going passwordless)
• Updating software (access policies with device checks)
• Recognizing and reporting phishing (user education)

Long has been the mantra that 'users are the weakest link'-this month we are challenging that idea but focusing on how our users are in fact the strongest line of defense.

How we're supporting the human side of cyber

Identity management is about securing people as the most scalable defense we have (not our greatest weakness). It's the human side of cyber. Here at Okta we believe that security is everyone's job. This month you will see content from us that supports the above focus areas but we also want to extend the conversation beyond simply sharing best practices.

Look for:

• Data points from our State of Zero Trust and State of Secure Identity reports
• QAs with inspiring individuals who are making a difference in the security industry building our community
• Customer stories about incorporating identity-powered security practices
• Our own internal journey around how we empower our customers and employees to follow the best security practices

Because the cybercriminal toolkit is constantly evolving, every person in an organization-not just the IT staff-needs to be continually educated on the latest threats. During the month of October not only will we be sharing outwards, but taking the time to educate our own employees on the critical role they play in keeping our company secure.

We believe that security is everyone's job, and there is no downtime in keeping our online activities safe and secure. The world's most trusted brands trust Okta, and that means we need to be at the forefront of establishing and maintaining secure work practices for all of our people. For our internal security awareness, we have prepared many events to provide opportunities for all employees to learn, practice, interact with the security team, and even share best practices with their families and friends.

This year, to promote security awareness internally we will be running multiple events:

• A Capture The Flag with Hack The Box focused on authentication and authorization
• A Phishing Contest where employees will be able to create a phishing email safely
• A Keynote by Rachel Tobac, where she will demonstrate a vishing attack live
• A Social Engineering Magic Show for all employees, and their families
• Multiple internal talks from the security, compliance and privacy teams
• Blog posts, videos, and even jingles

We hope that you join us during October as we live our mission to free everyone to safely use any technology. Our commitment to security and transparency can be seen on our trust and transparency pages.