ENISA celebrates 10 years in raising awareness on digital security and cyber hygiene
Explore activities near you and discover tricks and tips to stay safe online
With the increased use of open data, cyber criminals can use the information available online to create more realistic and individualised forms of tricks. Thanks to the European Cybersecurity Month (ECSM) – which this year celebrated its 10th anniversary – public and private entities increase awareness among citizens about ways to identify legitimate sources of data and information.
Organised by the European Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA), the ECSM’s campaign is launched across Europe to raise awareness on cyber threats and how it can impact anyone in society. This October, hundreds of activities are initiated for EU citizens, businesses, and public administration, including conferences, workshops, trainings, webinars, presentations s promoting digital security and cyber hygiene. For the 2022 edition, the ECSM aims to reach professionals between 40-60 years of age from all sectors as well as Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), on which cybersecurity damage can have a significant impact.
Over the years, ECSM has become a reference for national and regional organisations as well as companies to structure their awareness calendar. Also, the ECSM has created an open map of the cybersecurity activities in each country so that EU citizens can access their most near-by events.
The ECSM organised its awareness activities around two types of methods used by criminals.
- The first is phishing. This method is used by attackers to trick users in revealing personal information or clicking on malicious emails which will download a program from the attachment. Nowadays, cyber criminals expand their tactics and also use phone calls and SMS messages for phishing.
- The second method is ransomware through malicious e-mails, which has been identified as one of the most devastating forms of attack. The goal for the attackers is to make the targeted organisation non-operational and deprive individuals of their digital information. The only possibility given to recover the data is by paying a ransom.
#ThinkBeforeYouClick became the ECSM’s motto for online campaigns and on social media. Thanks to this hashtag, anyone can access free tips and best practices on how to be safe online, how to make your organisation resilient, and how to respond to a malicious attempt.
To learn more about cybersecurity activities and further tips, consult the ECSM webpage!
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