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Building Trust 2 October 2019

Celebrating National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

By Megan KruseFormer Director, Advocacy and Communications

Every October, we mark National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. From the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website, “Held every October, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to be safer and more secure online.”

We believe in an Internet that is open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy. Our work includes improving the security posture of producers of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ensuring encryption is available for everyone and is deployed as the default, working on time security, routing security through the MANRS initiative, and fostering collaborative security.

The Online Trust Alliance’s IoT Trust Framework identifies the core requirements manufacturers, service providers, distributors/purchasers, and policymakers need to understand, assess, and embrace for effective security and privacy as part of the Internet of Things. Also check out our Get IoT Smart pages for get more consumer-friendly advice on IoT devices.

Much of OTA’s work culminates in the Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll, which recognizes excellence in online consumer protection, data security, and responsible privacy practices. Since that report’s release in April 2019, we’ve done a couple of “deep dives” into specific sectors, including Healthcare and Banks, with more sectors on the way. We’ve also done a deep dive specifically into privacy statements, finding that most organizations do not comply with existing global privacy regulations and are not ready for additional regulations going into effect in 2020.

In addition, our Cyber Incident & Breach Trends Report analyzes events to extract key learnings and provide guidance to help organizations of all sizes raise the bar on trust through enhanced data protection and increased defense against evolving threats.

Check out our Best Practices to learn more, and make October the month you work to improve your organization’s overall cybersecurity stance!

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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