October is a fitting month for cybersecurity awareness. Phishing emails can be even more deceptive than a convincing costume and ransomware attacks can feel like a jump scare in a horror movie. Each year, the National Cybersecurity Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security spearhead an educational campaign to ensure everyone knows their role in protecting the vast amounts of online data we depend on for daily life.

The 2025 theme is "Stay Safe Online" with a focus on four key steps everyone can take to improve online safety:

• Use strong passwords and a password manager
• Turn on multifactor authentication
• Recognize and report scams
• Update your software

These tactics are important at a personal as well as enterprise level. Agencies across government have taken these best practices and implemented new security measures to protect data. Continue reading →