You have the Government of Canada’s permission to ruin a cyber criminal’s day! Who says we’re always friendly in Canada, eh?
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month (CSAM or Cyber Month). Recognized internationally, Cyber Month is designed to educate and remind the general public about the importance of cybersecurity.
Here in Canada, the theme for Cyber Month is ‘Ruin a cyber criminal’s day!’ To help you do that, the Government of Canada, through its Get Cyber Safe initiative, is putting out various resources to help Canadians protect themselves and/or recover from phishing scams.
Phishing is the fourth most common scam in Canada. Each week during October, a different aspect of phishing will be covered. Here’s the breakdown:
- Week 1 (Oct 3-7): You got phished – actionable steps to take to recover from a phishing attack
- Week 2 (Oct 10-14): Where, why and how it happens – what phishing is, where it happens, how it works etc.
- Week 3 (Oct 17-21): Prevention – how to protect yourself online
- Week 4 (Oct 24-28): Putting it all together
Add GetCyberSafe.ca to your bookmarks and follow along as various resources are released this October. Distributing some of these materials to your team may also be a good way to start some important conversations around cybersecurity and could help you begin the process of developing a more formal security awareness program for your organization.
Of course, while Cyber Month is October, keeping yourself safe online is a year-round endeavour, as one British Columbian municipality recently discovered. The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) was the victim of a cyber attack in early September.
Headquartered in Sechelt, the district serves some 32,000 people across 3,700 sq. km. Thankfully, the SCRD was only offline for 16 hours, and there was just a limited impact on services. Work is still being done to determine if any personal data was compromised.
However, from the outside looking in, the quick recovery time suggests they have good security event detection controls in place as the issue was rapidly detected and responded to. Moreover, this will have helped to limit the overall damage. This gets at the crux of why the work we do on the prevention side is so important; not only does it reduce the likelihood of a successful attack in the first place, but if the attack is successful, it also limits the resulting impact.
A cyber attack can happen at any time, and as the old adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” If you’re looking for support with your data security needs, reach out to us. We work with small to medium-sized organizations across Western Canada on their cybersecurity needs, offering free consultations to all prospective clients. Please contact us to start the conversation.
Disclaimer
While we have made every effort to present accurate, unbiased and helpful information in this article, please note that it reflects the author’s opinion and is written for the purposes of general knowledge, information and discussion. This article is not intended as legal advice, nor should it be considered as advice specific to your individual data security situation. If you would like to discuss your cybersecurity needs in specific detail, please get in touch with us.
