National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which promotes the importance of staying safe and secure online. This month-long initiative began in 2004 through a partnership between the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).

CISA, NCSA and many other cybersecurity agencies will use this month to encourage actions we can all take to stay safe online. Some examples include using strong passwords and a password manager, enabling multifactor authentication (MFA), recognizing/reporting phishing and frequently updating software.

If you are concerned about your entity’s cybersecurity risk, we encourage you to participate in the Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR). This is an assessment designed to measure potential cybersecurity gaps and capabilities of all branches of state government, counties, cities, local jurisdictions and other entities.

The goal is to assess opportunities for improvement and identify significant risks or gaps to protect our citizens and safeguard data. The benefits of implementing this assessment include increased awareness, risk mitigation and enhanced communication regarding cyber safeguards.

To learn more about the NCSR, please click here.

In addition, PE Partners’ Cyber Security Grant applications will open on Nov. 12 for members with General Liability Coverage and will accept submissions until Dec. 20.

Examples of eligible cyber security items and services include:

• Employee training designed to assist employees in

o   Identifying and protecting sensitive information;

o   Recognizing fraudulent emails and/or emails with dangerous links, along with social engineering tactics that can lead to loss

• MFA for access to email, remote access to computers and servers, and access to administrative accounts
• Data backup and disaster recovery, with the requirement of storing two backup copies onto different storage media and in different off-site locations
• Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to protect against malware and phishing attacks, and to monitor your network and systems for abnormal or suspicious activities
• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) that focuses on a single “endpoint device” (such as a server or computer) and looks for threats that may have infiltrated a municipality’s device

Click here to learn more about PE Partners’ Privacy and Network Liability Coverage, the Cyber Extension option and Computer Fraud Coverage.

We encourage you to take advantage of the resources provided this month and to take proactive steps to secure your online presence.