Facing the Cybersecurity Threat Head On

In October, ghosts and goblins come to life as decorations on front lawns and as candy-seeking children knocking on our doors. But stepping away from the frivolity of Halloween, October has also become a time for us to reflect on the real threats we face year-round when it comes to our data, identity privacy and online security.

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is a "collaborative effort between government and industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online." This year's theme is Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT. Programs around the country will address topics including citizen privacy, securing consumer devices, and eCommerce security.

More than IT professionals talking to one another, NCSAM aims to reach out to the public to emphasize personal accountability and educate people about the importance of taking proactive steps to enhance cybersecurity at home and in the workplace. The NCSAM website has some handy guides that can be shared to educate people on these actionable steps.

In our own effort to expand access to cybersecurity education, we pulled together a quick list of events happening in October to help you participate in the wealth of education offered as part of NCSAM.

• Red Hat Security Symposium (October 1, 2019; Herndon, VA) - This event will focus on how to use open source to secure the modern enterprise. Aimed at cybersecurity professionals, the event includes talks from industry experts covering the latest upstream and enterprise security developments. It is broken into two tracks--the compliance track will focus on FISMA readiness and compliance while the security monitoring track will be a deeper technical discussion on container security and automation.
• Securing K-12 Modern Learning Environment (October 2, 2019; webinar) - This webinar series focuses on security for the education sector. Part three will explore what resources are available to principals and faculty to teach effective cybersecurity habits to students, to enhance their education and protect the school.
• New York Cyber Security Summit (October 3, 2019; New York, NY) - This seventh annual event connects C-suite and senior executives responsible for protecting their companies' critical infrastructures with innovative solution providers and renowned information security experts. It includes a wide variety of speakers from security vendors to banks and credit card executives, to academics and FBI and NSA representatives.
• NRO Cyber Day (October 7, 2019; Chantilly, VA) -- The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is conducting a series of events to highlight the need for cybersecurity awareness in the workforce. The event includes an exposition of current Cybersecurity products and services as well as numerous training and speaking sessions.
• Borderless Cyber DC (October 8-10, 2019; Washington, DC) - This event is a collaboration between OASIS Open Consortium, KuppingerCole Analyst Firm, and The Integrated Adaptive Cyber Defense (IACD) communities. The program includes a mixture of interactive panel discussions and presentations featuring proactive/reactive threat intelligence automation options, emerging exchange standards for automating cyber threat data, managing threats with AI, and more. It also will feature an array of best-case presentations on Zero Trust Security, Continuous and Adaptive Authentication methods, Privilege Access Management, the role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Security, and other hot topics.
• OptivCon Minneapolis (October 9, 2019; Minneapolis, MN) - This event aims to help attendees reduce enterprise risk and realize stronger, simpler and less costly cyber security programs. Panels, keynotes, and interactive sessions deliver insight on cybersecurity tactics and offer up to six continuing education credits.
• NDIA New England 4th Annual Cyber Event (October 10, 2019, Burlington, MA) - With a theme of, "Back to the Future - Continuing Cybersecurity Challenges and Changes," this year's event will focus on updating changes and challenges for 2019. It will include DoD and industry subject matter experts and a thorough review of the compliance and evolving threat changes in DoD Cyber.
• NS2 NOW Security and Innovation Summit (October 30, 2019; McLean, VA) - This event will feature discussions with proven leaders on how to address gaps between data and capabilities, industry and government, cloud and security, critical infrastructure and cyber risks. Former Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, USMC (Ret.) will be the keynote presenter.

Let us know your can't miss Cybersecurity Awareness Month events in the comments.