In the past week or so, President Trump has labeled NFL players who take a knee in peaceful protest “sons of bitches” and disrespectful to the flag while colluding with a foreign, enemy government. He has shown disdain for Puerto Ricans and it’s emerged that he has even been called a “moron” by his own Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.
But every so often, he gets something right – I mean, even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, right?
Last week, the most unpresidential president ever “proclaimed” in a White House Press Release that October 2017 would be National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM)
So the most unpresidential President finally did some good.
Well, almost… because Trump is more NASCAR than NCSAM, there’s just one minor problem with this “proclamation”. NCSAM was created by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance in 2004 and has been observed every October since.
President Trump is like that friend who thinks your joke belongs to them because they’ve just repeated it louder than you did. He’s the girlfriend or boyfriend who watches you slave over a hot stove for hours, then adds a sprig of parsley to your meal and thinks they’ve cooked you a meal. He’s Terry in the office – the guy who takes all the credit when things go right, but takes no responsibility when the sh*t hits the fan.
The White House Press Release might as well say “President Trump proclaims sky is blue.”
Okay, enough about him… The National Cybersecurity Awareness Month has, interestingly, been split into themed weeks. The first, and this week’s theme being…
STOP. THINK. CONNECT. ™
Because the sub-campaign slogan comes from government agencies that think we’re four-year-olds, the simple, trademarked three-word mantra may seem like the “Stop. Look. Listen” campaign from a 1970’s English public safety commercial to help kids cross the road but the advice is good for raising awareness among laymen and Presidents whose attention span and understanding is seriously lacking.
That’s The Green Cross Code Man played by Dave Prowse, the man who played Darth Vader… at least now we know where Donald Trump got his hairstyle from – the 1970’s
HOW DOES STOP. THINK. CONNECT. RELATE TO RANSOMWARE?
Well, like National Pizza With The Works (Except Anchovies) Day wants to raise awareness so you can eat pizza with the works (except anchovies) EVERY DAY, the campaign encourages you to stop, think and connect every time you log on.
STOP
In addition to pausing before you log on, we take this to mean make sure your computer and network can stop as many forms of cyberattack as possible.
Make sure you protect your computer as a king would defend his medieval castle or The Donald would have the Secret Service protect Trump Tower.
With Ransomware attacks up 300% since 2015, ensure you have an adequate firewall and cybersecurity program which blocks malware, ransomware, adware, and other advanced threats. Make sure your email filters any gray and suspicious traffic to your inbox. Make sure not just your passwords but phone lockcodes are strong and use two-factor authentication where you can.
Right now, Facebook are working on a futuristic three-factor authentication – more on that soon…
THINK
Earlier, we mentioned responsibility and as word-lovers, we like to split that into two meanings. First is the traditional meaning. When online, you should think about your behavior and take responsibility for your actions. If Terry opens an attachment in a spam email, is that the company CTO’s fault for allowing phishing traffic through your company’s security, or is it Terry’s fault?
If Brenda from Accounts shops online and gives her credit card details to an unsecured site, who’s to blame?
If the FBI, Inland Revenue or bank email, text or call you asking for personal info, remember they will never do that and that the real FBI and IRS will send you a letter as they still think it’s 1978.
The second meaning of the word is also RESPONSE-ABILITY. Your ability to respond if you do succumb to a Ransomware or other cyberattack is the measure of a man. Support, back-up and recovery is tantamount and our friends over at Unitrends will ensure your response-ability is the best in the business.
CONNECT
After you’ve stopped, thought and taken care of business then knock yourself out or, as they might have said in the 1970’s “Turn on, log on, drop out.”
After the success of his National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we proclaim next month President Trump is going to invent a brand new men’s health awareness month all by himself – ‘Movember’.
Knock yourself out, Mr. President.
