CISA Cybersecurity Awareness Month
17
Oct
Security

Brightline IT’s Key Takeaways from CISA’s “See Yourself In Cyber” Theme for Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2022

Posted on by John Renders

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is basing this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month campaign on people. The campaign, called “See Yourself in Cyber” is focused on demonstrating that while cybersecurity can seem complex, at the end of the day it’s really just about people.

The campaign encourages people to “see themselves taking action to stay safe online.” This includes four simple action steps that they can take immediately to improve the security of their private information and assets:

  1. Think Before You Click – Recognize and Report Phishing: Cybercriminals commonly use phishing emails to gain access to your passwords, account numbers, and social security numbers by tricking you into thinking they’re someone you can trust. Read this guide to learn how to spot phishing. In fact, roughly 90% of data breaches happen on account of phishing.1
  2. Update Your Software: Cybercriminals can exploit outdated software. That’s why it’s important to update your software whenever there’s a notification for it. Opt for automatic updates if you can. 
  3. Use Strong Passwords: Update all your passwords and make sure they are at least 11 characters long (We recommend 16) and randomly generated. Use a password manager such as LastPass to help keep your passwords organized and protected. 
  4. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication: Called MFA for short, Multi-Factor Authentication requires cyber criminals to have an additional form of verification other than your password to access your accounts. Examples of MFA include a text message with a code from the software you’re accessing. In this example, the criminal would need your password and access to your phone to successfully gain access. Read our complete guide on MFA here.

Solutions That Can Help

Brightline IT customers get the tools necessary to effectively and easily have their businesses comply with CISA’s four action steps. The four solutions below correspond to each action step above:

  1. Security Awareness Training: We train your team to spot and respond to phishing attempts so you can have peace and mind knowing that your team isn’t giving the keys to your business’s digital assets over to cyber criminals.   
  2. Routine Software Updates: Our team proactively manages system updates for you so that you don’t have to worry about any of the devices with access to your network being vulnerable due to out-of-date software. 
  3. Password Management: Our password management software makes it easy for you to encrypt strong passwords and remember them when you need them. 
  4. Forced Multi-Factor Authentication: We’ll enforce multi-factor authentication across your entire organization. Hackers will have a much harder time getting in when they find your passwords on the dark web or when they have successfully exploited an employee that wasn’t careful about sharing their information.  

About Brightline IT:

Brightline IT is a managed service provider based in Michigan that provides managed IT services and cybersecurity compliance for organizations throughout the United States. We proactively manage the technology infrastructures of our clients and oversee their cybersecurity programs so they can reduce the risks associated with data breaches and comply with industry-specific security regulations such as HIPAA, CMMC/DFARS, ITAR, PCI and more.   

Your Next Steps…

If your organization needs assistance implementing any or all of these action steps from CISA, don’t hesitate to give us a call. At Brightline IT, our cybersecurity and compliance division helps small and medium-sized businesses and non-profits across the country implement robust cybersecurity controls so that they can reduce their exposure to crippling data, financial and reputational losses that can occur during and after a cyber attack, while also helping them meet cybersecurity compliance regulations within their industry.    

References: 

John Renders

John Renders is the Director of Cybersecurity and a CMMC-AB Registered Practitioner and Brightline Technologies, a Managed IT Services provider in Michigan, USA.