2023 marks 20-years for October being Cybersecurity Awareness Month in New York
ALBANY, NY- New York observes October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month and 2023 marks its 20th anniversary.
“Through this designation, we are shining a bright light on the need for our citizens and businesses to be vigilant in the face of cyber threats that have become more numerous and more sophisticated,” said Governor Kathy Hochul.
"By establishing our state’s first-ever, comprehensive statewide cybersecurity strategy, my administration remains committed to creating a formidable statewide defense against cyber threats and protecting the critical services that our residents, businesses and local governments rely on every day.”
For this year, Cybersecurity Awareness Month this year will focus on four key behaviors:
• Enabling multi-factor authentication;
• Using strong passphrases;
• Updating software; and,
• Recognizing and reporting phishing.
“In the modern world, it’s critical we remain vigilant against cyber criminals who threaten our personal information and safety," said New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray.
"This Cyber Security Awareness Month, New Yorkers should take time to safeguard themselves against cyber-attacks. Take simple steps to keep yourself and your information safe. Remember -- think before you click, use strong passphrases, keep your antivirus software current, and enable multi-factor authentication.”
In partnership with the non-profit Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), the State Department of Financial Services provides a free cybersecurity toolkit to small businesses so they can protect themselves and their customers from growing cyber threats.
The cybersecurity toolkit includes information on identifying hardware and software, updating defenses against cyber threats, strengthening passphrases, enabling multi-factor authentication, backing up and recovering data and protecting email systems.
Image via New York's Office of Information Technology Services.
