European Cyber Security Month 2018 at a glance

ENISA publishes the ‘2018 European Cyber Security Month deployment report’, a summary of the activities organised by the Agency and participating Member States in October 2018. The report is a synthesis of findings based on evaluation and performance information gathered by collecting feedback and open source information.

The report targets both organisations that supported ECSM and those seeking to get involved in the future. At the same time, it also targets ICT and non-ICT security professionals who wish to launch similar awareness raising campaigns. Furthermore, the report is directed at EU and national policy makers who aim to improve the security awareness of citizens, professionals and IT end-users in general.

According to the report, more Member States got involved or increased their participation in the campaign. The number of activities organised under the ECSM umbrella increased by 6.5%, from 532 in 2017 to 567 in 2018. Additionally, over 160 teachers from 22 countries took part in online events destined for students.

Udo Helmbrecht, Executive Director of ENISA: "The latest edition of the ECSM brought many opportunities for people to discover how to stay safe online and play an active role in cybersecurity, in particular the young generations. I am happy to see that the number of participants increased considerably. Europeans understand more and more that a safe online environment can only be built by a common effort. I encourage everyone to join the ECSM in 2019."

The 2018 ECSM campaign was the sixth consecutive edition and was supported by the European Commission, Europol’s Cyber Crime Centre (EC3), European Schoolnet, SaferInternet4EU campaign and cybersecurity organisations from the Member States.

The campaign sought to raise awareness of cybersecurity practices through a plethora of activities such as  specialised reports, conferences, workshops, seminars, online courses, trainings, strategy summits, general presentations to users, online quizzes, etc.

The four themes chosen in 2018 were:

Week 1 – Theme 1: Practice basic cyber hygiene. ENISA and the Anti-Phishing Working Group APWG designed a phishing poster for the first week of the campaign. The phishing poster provided information about the scale of the phishing problem by numbers, tips on how to avoid phishing and what to do if one becomes a victim of phishing. 

Week 2 – Theme 2: Expand your Digital Skills and Education. ECSM learning modules were created for the campaign in collaboration with European Schoolnet, as part of the #SaferInternet4EU campaign launched on Safer Internet Day 2018 by Commissioner Mariya Gabriel to promote online safety, media literacy and cyber hygiene.

Week 3 – Theme 3: Recognise Cyberscams. Europol and the European Banking Federation launched an awareness campaign on the 7 most common online financial scams. Law enforcement agencies from all 28 EU Member States, 5 non- EU Member States, 24 national banking associations and banks and many other cybercrime fighters raised awareness about this criminal phenomenon. 

Week 4 – Theme 4: Emerging Technologies and Privacy. This included a live webinar by ENISA experts and external experts from Industry with the purpose of discussing the importance of having an “Emerging Technologies Horizon Scanning and Research Process”.

Would you and your organisation like to get involved with the European Cyber Security Month in October 2019? Find out what activities you can organise or be part of by contacting us here https://cybersecuritymonth.eu/contact-info

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