Why Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CSAM) matters

How often are you thinking about the ways you protect yourself and others in digital environments? As uOttawa’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), I think about cybersecurity all the time—professionally and in my personal life, even when I bike on my way to work...???

This month is an opportunity to communicate and encourage key actions that can make your digital environment safer and foster a stronger culture of security. I will be sharing reflections all month long. Je vous invite à suivre?uOttawa TI | IT?pour obtenir des conseils et des pratiques exemplaires.

Why the uOttawa community needs to get involved

• We all use University systems. It’s not just IT administrators that manage data, information, accounts and systems.
• The University has over 500 systems (this doesn’t even include office software that’s increasingly located in the Cloud). That’s over 500 potential points of entry for a cyberattack through thousands of user accounts!
• The University manages a lot of data, information and resources. As a result, we are being targeted more and more.
• Threats are constantly changing. With cybercriminals having more access to things like AI, their scams are more convincing and elaborate. The risks to our environment are higher.
• Successful cyberattacks cost more money and time than fostering a culture of awareness and vigilance. We need to support cybersecurity initiatives that create a positive impact on campus.?

!IMPORTANT! Something else to consider ! ??

Protecting your organization/employer is important, therefore having good cyber-habits is really important. But cybersecurity doesn't start or stop at your employer door!

It also applies to your personal life... nobody is secure if everyone around them doesn't also adopt cyber safe habits. This is why CSAM exists - to facilitate a space for you to discuss these issues with your family, friends and colleagues (and for CISOs around the world to bug you about cybersecurity for a whole month ! ??)

When everyone takes responsibility for security and looks out for others, the chances of spotting and?eliminating?threats increase. La sécurité est la responsabilité de tous!

Please take time this month to learn more about cybersecurity, and to share and discuss it with others.

https://www.uottawa.ca/notre-universite/technologies-information/services/securite/sensibilisation/mois-sensibilisation-cybersecurite