By Chetrice Mosley-Romero

Following on the proclamation by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb designating the month of October as “Cybersecurity Awareness Month”, Indiana is continuing in its cyber readiness to keep all Hoosiers safe and secure and protect our critical infrastructure that’s essential to everyday life.

The progress comes at a critical time, as the severity and frequency of a cyberattack includes not only data breaches and is crossing over to sophisticated attack on the physical operations of water utilities, hospitals, schools, and local governments.

In addition to the best practices, tips, and resources available on the Indiana Cybersecurity Hub website, the State of Indiana is staying at the forefront of being prepared with the Emergency Manager Cybersecurity Toolkit; a free, downloadable “playbook” designed to help take out some of the complexities related to cyber and provide an invaluable resource with the tools to help people stay protected. It is a complete guide to help with planning in the event of a cyberattack.

Developed by the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity (IECC), the Toolkit is organized into four main sections, including:

• A surveyto assist emergency managers in working with their partners to develop emergency and continuity of operations plans;
• Cybersecurity incident response plan template;
• Training and exercise guide; and
• Additional resources to help deal with new and pervasive threats.

For office managers, executives and IT managers – interested in getting an initial understanding of an organization’s cybersecurity posture – can use another cyber resource known as the Indiana Cybersecurity Scorecard; it is a free download and takes less than 20 minutes to complete to start a conversation about cybersecurity within an organization.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is designed to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity across Indiana and the country to help make sure everyone is able to stay safe online. This year’s theme is “DoYourPart. #BeCyberSmart” and encourages individuals and organizations to be proactive in protecting their part of cyberspace. For more information, visit the Indiana Cyber Hub, or on social media at Twitter and Facebook.