Author: neil

Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will partner with community colleges in providing a free curriculum across the U.S. and provide free resources in an attempt to help end a shortage in cybersecurity workers. They will also provide training for faculty at 150 community colleges and give scholarships and resources to 25,000 students as part of the effort.

The company aims to help train and hire 250,000 people in the workforce of cybersecurity thus believing it can reduce the country’s workforce shortage by half by 2025.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a press conference on Thursday, “We think we can make a meaningful difference in solving half of the cybersecurity jobs shortage. We should be optimistic that in the next 12-24 months we can start to make a real dent.”

The campaign will not only address the shortage but will also play an important role in diversifying the industry. Microsoft found 80% of cybersecurity jobs are held by people who are white and men hold 82.4% of cybersecurity jobs in the US. According to their compiled data, 57% of community college students in the U.S are women and 40% of students identify as African American, Black or Hispanic.

Microsoft said it would spend $20 billion over five years to distribute more up to date security tools and invest $150 million to help government agencies widen training partnerships in cybersecurity and enhance their security systems.

Both the private sector and government officials have pointed to the workforce shortage as a persistent problem as they try to take on potential risks associated with cybercrime.

Though October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, cyber scams are still on the rise. If you’ve noticed that you’ve been getting spam texts or phishy emails—you’re not alone. In fact, an uptick of complaints to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) were received. These include significant increase with both business and individual email compromise schemes or simply put, fraud perpetrated through email”, says Matt DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI office in Dallas.

With that being said, top cyber security experts share their top 5 tips to help you combat cyber-related crimes.

TIP #1: REGULARLY BACK UP YOUR DATA

Back your files up to the cloud or a server that’s in a different location than where your computer is. Taking your data and just copying it in a different folder on the same computer is not going to work.

TIP #2: ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE SOFTWARE ON YOUR DEVICE IS UP-TO-DATE

Don’t ignore the pop-ups or reminders telling you to update, they’re there for a reason. Most people ignore these notifications and don’t realize that most of them are security updates.

TIP 3: THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK

If you receive emails from people whom you do not personally recognize or if their message somehow makes you suspicious, don’t open them. Right now more than ever, it’s critical to first ponder before you act. Scammers operate based on immediacy and fear, whether in the form of a call, text or email. They want you to respond fast without thinking.

TIP #4: MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION (MFA) IS ESSENTIAL

When it comes to protecting your accounts, MFA is vital and is not just an option you can forego. More websites are being compromised and being able to prove that you’re you in more ways than one is frankly critical at this point. If you have banks or other financial institutions that don’t offer multifactor authentication, you should bring your business somewhere else safer. 

TIP 5: EDUCATE YOURSELF

Be aware of what kinds of scams are out there. You can gather information from a lot of free online resources. Talk about it with your family and friends, especially grandparents and kids. Though kids are more likely to fall for scams, the elderly have more to lose because of their chance of being scammed for a higher amount. Loneliness is a big factor in being victimized too, as many elders fall into the trap of romance scams.

While these tips may seem basic, we should all take time to step up our game in keeping our information safe from scammers. #BeCyberSmart

Cyber security has always been vital but we need to make a conscious effort of learning how to keep ourselves safe as the fine line between our online and offline lives is indistinguishable. Protecting yourself online — your identity, data, and devices — is critical in today’s world where the internet is prevalent in nearly every aspect of our lives. More and more people rely on the internet for financial services, business and social connection and of course work and daily tasks.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month, now in its eighteenth year, encourages individuals, businesses and institutions to take time to educate themselves about cyber risks and online safety practices. This year’s theme is “Do your Part, Be Cyber Smart”.

Since its inception, Cybersecurity Awareness month has grown exponentially, reaching consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, corporations, educational institutions and others across the U.S. 

This year alone, ransomware attacks involved schools, healthcare organizations, fuel pipelines, food suppliers, and several organizations, often resulting in disruptions that have impacted public health, the supply chain, plus national and economic safety and security.

Some facts and figures of cybersecurity risk:

• 88% of data breaches are caused by human error. (Tessian)

• The average total cost of a data breach in 2020 was $3.86 million and took an average of 280 days to identify and contain. (IBM)

• The use of new breach techniques has boomed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 35% of breaches having leveraged new techniques in 2020. (Cynet)