Welcome to week 4 of October 2024, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. To start, Thank you. Thank you to those who have stopped me in the hallway and relayed how you have enjoyed these articles and learned a thing or two that you can apply to your personal and professional lives. I appreciate the feedback.
For that reason, I am eager to hear from you about ways to improve these communications. What works for you? What topics or areas would you like to learn more about? How can I present them in a more relatable fashion? Please, I am interested to know.
This is the final week of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but it is by no means the end of the conversation.
We have talked about AI, frequently in less-than-flattering terms. However, I must stress that GenAI can be a powerful tool. Like any other, it can be used for good AND ill. When prompted in malicious or careless ways, AI can return answers that are both surprising and disturbing.
AI, when used in combination with social engineering techniques, produces very effective results. It makes one wonder why one of the godfathers of AI refers to Gen AI as dumber than a cat. But the truth is AI has a long way to go until it can logically “think” on par with a human being. In the meantime, we will need to use the tool and guide it within the best of our abilities while keeping our information secure.
We must keep in mind that security is a collective responsibility, and everyone has a role to play. We have covered several scenarios where security was overlooked, and the results were troubling.
As election day draws near, we are told that election systems have never been more secure. Depending on what articles you believe, that may or may not be a reassuring statement. Having coded solutions for this problem in college, I can assure you there are myriad issues that need to be considered.
The official theme of this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month is “Secure Our World.” Be Vigilant, Keep Your Software Updated, Use Strong Passwords, Use Multi-Factor Authentication, and Recognize and Report Phishing. These are all great points. However, we have been beaten over the head with this advice for years, so it is easy to take them for granted.
I hope this presentation has been a refreshing reminder of the need for us to be Vigilant. Relaying the story behind the grandparent scam and others helps you recognize phishing and the points where the perpetrators exert pressure. Our adventures with Gen AI have illustrated the dangers of this innovative technology and the Wild West landscape surrounding it.
Lastly, I must reiterate our two DoCS staple reminders: “Don’t click that link!” and “Please, Don’t make Ken sad.”