By Chetrice Mosley-Romero

In the movie, “Hoosiers”, there’s a scene where Coach Norman Dale asks if anyone from the fictional Hickory High School basketball team has anything to say, just before they take the floor for the championship game, and one of the players, Merle Webb says, “Let’s win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here”.

And if you’re wondering what in the name of the picket fence does this quote have to do with cybersecurity, allow me to explain.

It’s always right around this time of year, most of us create our list of New Year’s resolutions. It’s a mostly frustrating (albeit sometimes entertaining) task that we struggle with annually.

As it regards at least a couple of items, one of two things happen – we don’t anticipate what might go wrong and we give up on ourselves – sometimes even before the game even starts. Or we satisfy ourselves by checking the box with an outcome that makes us “feel good" but doesn’t come close to the type of effort that we know it takes for really being able to put it in the win column.

With that in mind, instead, for 2022 maybe instead of resolutions, we put together a list of our New Year’s Expectations!

What’s the difference?

In the world of cybersecurity, there’s a lot of us out there – as individuals (of all ages), business owners and, even, local government officials. And, realistically, let’s start with the premise that there’s not always enough resources, financial or otherwise, to help achieve all of our goals. That’s OK.

Whereas, with expectations, it’s something we can proactively manage along the way and make genuine progress that’s as meaningful as it is measurable, and it helps us stay on track and keep moving forward.

With our families, when it comes to being online, there’s always a lot going on. There’s work (and homework) being done at home and everyone’s on their phone or mobile device, doing everything from a little bit of shopping to checking on their social media accounts. Being safe is important and here's some important tips for having an effective conversation with your family about cybersecurity.

If you’re a business, following some of the top trends is a way to create a greater level of cyber awareness and education with your employees and customers. Recently, the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCSA) identified the top three trends worth watching in 2022.  It’s information you can use to create expectations that’ll help your organization grow and succeed.

You’ll notice, too, I mentioned local government. When you think about it, there are all kinds of services that come through your city, town or county that have an impact on our lives every day.  And the people – some of whom live next door or down the street – in those departments are hard at work trying to meet your New Year’s expectations.

Whether you’re an emergency manager, working in the clerk’s office or overseeing the local water utility, there’s things you can put on your cybersecurity “to do” list, such as the Indiana Cybersecurity Scorecard (it’s FREE to download and use) to help measure your organization’s cyber preparedness, and there’s a wide range of resources available from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); all in an effort to help you stay safe and meet expectations.

Now, that you’ve got a few more ideas on ringing in the New Year, let's go!