By Joel Thacker and Tracy Barnes

While it might not possess the glamour and tradition of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, or generate the kind of promotional opportunities we often see with the Super Bowl, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an event that’s not only worth celebrating, it’s one that deserves our attention year round.

Following on the proclamation, on Sunday, 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.

In its 20^th year, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA), in partnership with the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA), announced this year’s theme is “Secure Our World”; it is an ideal illustration of the significance that cyber possesses for all of us.

And, just as we don’t limit ourselves to a single day, week, or month, to remind each other to be thankful of our family, friends, and co-workers, it’s important for each of us to continuously follow a few simple habits and “stay safe” behaviors whenever we’re online, whether we’re at home, at work or at school. And it’s especially true whenever we’re on social media or engaging in anything that involves our personal or financial information.

Keeping ourselves secure is achieved by focusing on four simple -- yet critical -- actions; steps that all of us should implement and continuously strengthen, including:

• Recognize and report phishing
• Use strong passwords
• Turn on multi-factor authentication
• Update software

Here in Indiana, cybersecurity continues to be a priority and the progress we’ve achieved comes at a critical time, as the severity and frequency of a cyber incident or cyberattack includes not only data breaches, but it’s also crossing over to more sophisticated attacks on the physical operations of water utilities, hospitals, schools, and local governments.

To help stay at the forefront of being prepared, the Indiana Cybersecurity Hub website features a wide range of FREE resources, best practices and tips, as well as free-to-download toolkits involving emergency management, education, and healthcare (and more) that have been developed by professionals to help build on your cybersecurity awareness. There’s even an Indiana Cybersecurity Scorecard to give you a good idea (in less than 20 minutes) of your organization’s overall cyber posture.

To keep it all moving forward, the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity is continuing in its work, as outlined in the state’s cybersecurity strategic plan, positioning the Hoosier State nationally as a top-tier leader, among all states for cyber governance.

We invite everyone to join in the celebration of Cybersecurity Awareness Month and use the opportunity to connect with our family, friends, and co-workers and do our part to help keep one another safe whenever we’ve online. And, be sure to visit the Indiana Cyber Hub online for the latest cyber information on Twitter/X, LinkedIn and Facebook.