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In an effort to promote the awareness of online safety and privacy, the city of Livermore recently declared October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
"This is an important part of the core mission of the city government, which is to keep the citizens safe," said Mayor Bob Woerner at the Sept. 27 City Council meeting where the proclamation was announced.
As part of this initiative, the city is also a participant in the 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion program, which is a collaborative effort among businesses, government agencies, colleges and universities, associations, nonprofit organizations and individuals committed to the Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme of "Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart," city officials said in a statement.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month aims to shed light on security vulnerabilities, while offering actionable guidance surrounding behaviors anyone can take to protect themselves and their organizations, according to officials.
The city's commitment to this effort includes offering residents a free cyber safety mobile app and more than 100 cyber safety resources on the city's website that cover a number of topics like family cyber safety, cybersecurity career opportunities, reporting cyber crimes, phishing and scams, and cybersecurity for businesses.
During his State of the City address this summer, Woerner cited establishing a new cybersecurity division among the city's public safety initiatives. "This is one of the areas that we were talking about getting going on but now we're doing it quite seriously," he said during the June 24 virtual luncheon.
Cybersecurity became a critical priority for the city following a ransomware attack in late 2019 that shut down email, phones and computers at Livermore City Hall.
Now in its 18th year, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a globally recognized event co-led by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Cyber safety tips the city recommends include:
- Enable multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of protection to online accounts
- Use strong passphrases/password manager
- Perform software updates regularly
- Research before downloading anything new
- Check all privacy and security settings
More information about Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2021 is available here and the city of Livermore's resources are available here.
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