Month of National Cybersecurity Awareness

Elmira, New York – National Security Awareness Month is in October. The Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Division created the month. The month’s objective is to increase public awareness of the value of cybersecurity.

Threats to cybersecurity are rising quickly, particularly as social media and technology become more prevalent every day. But in light of this, attackers have created more effective methods for account hacking. Attackers want to hack into your technology for a variety of reasons.

To attempt to steal money is one of the key motives. Their attempts have been getting more effective, whether it’s by getting access to your bank account information or persuading you to enter a credit card number into a dubious link you received.

Fortunately, there are safeguards that parents and children can implement to prevent cybersecurity assaults from affecting them. The best thing for a child and parent to have is an open line of communication, according to Valecia Stocchetti, Senior Cybersecurity Engineer for CIS.

“For kids, things like making sure that when you get text messages from your friends, make sure that it’s a trusted number,” Stocchetti said. “If there’s a link in the message, remember a lot of times those can be malicious links.”

Children are constantly urged to confirm that the acquaintances they establish online are actually who they claim to be. People frequently hide behind their cameras and act like someone they’re not, which might result in risky circumstances. “Bringing light to the issues and helping educate people on cyber safety can really be important,” Stocchetti said. “Helping people get through some of the rough patches is important since we are now globally connected through everything.”