Dear Bruin Community:
As we ramp up for another academic year, it is a great time to be reminded that cybercriminals are all around us and ongoing cybersecurity awareness training is important to help us sharpen skills and protect against data breaches, phishing and other malicious attacks, and other cyber threats. According to the national Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, 47% of American adults have fallen victim to cybercriminals who have stolen their personal information. Knowing how to identify potential threats and how to respond is imperative to keeping our community safer and more secure online, whether at school, work or home.
October marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CAM), an annual, nationwide initiative dedicated to educating individuals and organizations on how to fortify their digital security. Over the next four weeks, all UCLA students, staff and faculty are encouraged to empower themselves by becoming more familiar with the following topics through a variety of engaging activities and informative resources to help enhance cybersecurity knowledge and practices. Links to resources on each of these topics will be available on the UCLA Cybersecurity Awareness website:
- If You Connect It, Protect It (Week of October 2)
Sub-topics: Multifactor Authentication, Privacy Setting - Secure Your Digital Home and Office (Week of October 9)
Sub-topics: Software Updates, Personal Device Protection, Data Protection - Secure Your Loved Ones (Week of October 16)
Sub-topics: Social Media, Data Protection, Social Engineering - Be a Cyber Hero (Week of October 27)
Sub-topics: Phishing/Social Engineering, Passwords, Reporting
Throughout October, you can expect a variety of engaging activities and informative resources to help you enhance your cybersecurity knowledge and practices. We encourage everyone to actively engage and make use of the available resources to bolster your digital defenses.
We encourage everyone to actively engage and make use of the available resources to bolster our collective digital defenses. Remember, your actions in the online world can not only put you at risk but can have a significant impact on the security of our campus. By being proactive and informed, we can collectively create a safer digital environment for all Bruins. Stay up to date on all of the Cybersecurity Awareness themes and resources by visiting the UCLA Cybersecurity Awareness website and following our #SecureUCLA Slack channel.
Thank you all for your commitment to the security of our UCLA community. I wish you a wonderful fall quarter!
Drake Chang
Interim Chief Information Security Officer
Information Technology Services
