National Cyber Security Awareness Month

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Every October, Microsoft recognizes National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in the United States through our partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). NCSAM was created to help increase awareness of online safety and security issues, and to help educate people about the best ways to protect their computers and other electronic devices.

Microsoft supports NCSAM worldwide, to help foster digital citizenship, a concept that helps prepare and educate all of us for a society full of technology.

This year's theme for NCSAM, "Our Shared Responsibility," emphasizes the role that each of us—individuals, families, schools, organizations, industry, and government—has to help create a safer digital world. In doing our part, Microsoft offers six foundational steps each of us can take to help protect our online safety, devices, information, and families as we learn, explore, and interact online.

• Defend your computer

  Strengthen your computer's defenses.

  • Keep all software (including your web browser) current with automatic updating.

  • Install legitimate antivirus and antispyware software, such as Microsoft Security Essentials.

  • Never turn off your firewall.

  • Protect your wireless router with a password.

  • Use flash drives cautiously. If one of them has a virus, it could infect your computer.

  More information about how to defend your computer.

  Don't be tricked into downloading malicious software.

  • Think before you open attachments or click links in an email message, an instant message (IM), or on a social network, even if you know the sender. Confirm with the sender that the message is legitimate.

  • Don't click links or buttons in pop-up windows.

  More information about how to boost your defenses against malicious software.

• Protect sensitive personal information

  • Before you enter sensitive data, look for signs that the webpage is secure—a web address with https and a closed padlock () beside it are good indications.

    More information about secure websites.

  • Never give sensitive information (like an account number or password) in response to a request in an email message, IM, or on a social network.

    More information about how to help protect your personal and financial information on the Internet.

  • Don't respond to pleas for money from "family members," deals that sound too good to be true, lotteries you didn't enter, or other scams.

    More information about how to increase online safety by recognizing phishing email messages, links, or phone calls.

• Create strong passwords and keep them secret

  • Make your passwords long phrases or sentences that mix capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Use different passwords for different sites, especially those that keep financial information.

  • Use our password checker to learn how strong your passwords are.

  More information about how to create strong passwords.

• Take charge of your online safety and reputation

  Discover what is on the Internet about you and periodically evaluate what you find. Cultivate a positive reputation.

  More information about how to manage your online reputation.

• Use social networks more safely

  • Look for Settings or Options in services like Facebook and Twitter to manage who can see your profile or photos tagged with your name, control how people can search for you and make comments, and how to block people.

  • Do not post anything you wouldn't want to see on a billboard.

  • Be selective about the friends you accept. Periodically assess who has access to your pages, and review what they post about you.

  More information about social network safety.

• Take extra steps to help keep kids safer online

  To make online safety a family effort, use a mix of guidance and monitoring. Negotiate clear guidelines for web and online game use that fit your kids' maturity and your family's values. Pay attention to what kids do and who they meet online.

  More information about family online safety.