Cyber Security Awareness Month (CSAM) is held each October to inform Canadians about cyber security issues, and the steps they can take to protect themselves online. Cyber Security Awareness Month is a joint effort by government and business leaders from across Canada, and, starting this year, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and its Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (the Cyber Centre) are playing a larger role.
We’re half-way through CSAM now. Governments, organizations and businesses across Canada, and around the world, are marking the month with events and activities. The Cyber Centre launch was planned to coincide with CSAM, and we have a whole list of activities that we are involved with and contributing to. Here is just a short sampling of them:
Geek Week: Public Safety Canada’s Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) has joined the Cyber Centre to hold their annual Geek Week workshop. This event, now in its fifth year, brings together key players in the field of cyber security for research and development.
Museum Exhibit on Cyber Security: CSE has partnered with the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa to create Cipher | Decipher, a travelling exhibition about cryptology and cyber security. Visit the exhibition in Ottawa, or check the schedule to find out when it will be in a city near you.
Fake News: The theme of week four is “Our critical eye and the internet,” and CSE will be hosting two Curiosity on Stage events discussing Fake News. The first, on Oct. 24, will be a panel discussion with Cyber Centre Head Scott Jones, University of Ottawa Professor Liz Dubois and Radio-Canada’s Jeff Yates. In the second event, on Oct. 27, education specialist Thierry Plante from Media Smarts will be helping children learn to spot fake news. Both events will be live-streamed by Ingenium.
Follow the Cyber Centre and Get Cyber Safe for more information on these events and invite your friends, family, workplace and community groups to take the #CSAMChallenge and learn a new tip every day that can keep you safe all year long.
Cyber is an all-of-Canada challenge; we all need to do our part to keep Canada cyber-safe!