This year, ISN partnered with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to participate in the 20th Cybersecurity Awareness Month. It is the world’s foremost initiative aimed at promoting cybersecurity awareness and best practices among businesses, government agencies, colleges, associations, nonprofits, tribal communities, and individuals.

Technology is deeply intertwined with our lives and while this evolution accelerates, cybercriminals are working just as hard to find ways to compromise businesses and individuals alike. For 20 Octobers and counting, Cybersecurity Awareness Month aims to highlight some of the emerging challenges that exist in the world of cybersecurity today and provide straightforward, actionable guidance that anyone can follow to create a safe and secure digital world for themselves and their loved ones.

Starting this year, the new theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is Secure Our World, with the main messaging revolving around four key cybersecurity best practices:

1. Understanding the benefits of using a password manager and dispelling existing myths around password manager security and ease of use.
2. Turning on multifactor authentication on business networks and personal devices.
3. Recognizing and reporting phishing – still one of the primary threat actions used by cybercriminals today.
4. Installing updates on a regular basis and turning on automated updates.

 These initiatives make your internal cybersecurity posture more resilient to attack, but with supply chains being diverse and complex, it is difficult to track and manage all potential cyber risks. ISN automates cybersecurity due diligence by providing a standardized, cost-effective process that allows security teams to gain visibility into supplier operations. This is done by establishing a baseline of cybersecurity due diligence, then increasing that level of review as suppliers become higher risk.

Common first steps using ISN Cyber Secure are collecting Cyber Questionnaire responses, requiring Cyber Liability Insurance and reviewing a supplier’s Cyber Risk Rating. As a supplier’s risk level increases, we can verify internal cybersecurity policies through Document Collection and even assess a supplier’s internal security posture with a Cyber Plus Assessment.

If you are a current ISN Hiring Client subscriber, contact your account representative about incorporating cybersecurity tools into your supplier information management program. Or, if you are interested in learning more about ISN’s supplier management system to help you reach your cybersecurity goals, contact ISN.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month continues to build momentum and impact with the goal of providing everyone with the information they need to stay safer and more secure online. ISN is proud to support this far-reaching online safety awareness and education initiative which is co-managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Cybersecurity Alliance.

For more information about Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023 and how to participate in a wide variety of activities, visit cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month and staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/. You can also follow and use the hashtag #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth, #SecureOurWorld and #ISN on social media throughout the month.