Cyber Hero @ Home, the international Cybersecurity Month 2021 campaign organised by – and for – the GÉANT community, closed on 31 October.
The objective of the campaign was to help users to operate in a digitally safe home-working environment in order to protect and defend their devices, networks and identity; and to raise awareness of cybersecurity and cybercrime.
Cyber Hero @ Home was created and coordinated by a core cross-NREN team including communications and security experts from Belnet, GÉANT, MARnet and SURF, under the auspices of Work Package 8 on Security within the GN4-3 project. The team created the campaign’s messaging, curated and produced (a selection of) its content, and coordinated its promotion via GÉANT’s communication and social media channels throughout the month of October.
One of the highlights of this year’s campaign was the stimulating programme of webinars held by security experts from industry and the wider GÉANT community. These online live events generated great discussions on the topics presented: from stories of ransomware in fascinating tales of Somali pirates and East European crime lords, to the importance of privacy and how it can be affected by the design of our devices. Themes such as digital hygiene and digital footprint were also accompanied by powerful reminders to stay vigilant at all times when online, as cybercrime continues to evolve and become more invasive and sophisticated, and cyber criminals more ruthless and opportunistic.
The campaign content was varied and enlightening, it included warnings about Wi-Fi networks insecurity, invites to imaginary gala dinners in the fight against cybercrime, the use of gamification in cybersecurity training, the value of Multi Factor Authentication etc., plus simple tips for our daily online security management.
Here’s the campaign in numbers:
- 27 NRENs (joined the campaign)
- 17 NRENs (contributed with written content)
- 35 articles
- 166 original tweets
- 118k impressions for Cyber Security Month tweets only from @GEANTnews
We are grateful to all participating organisations for their enthusiasm and support and want to take the opportunity to remind and encourage our readers to keep visiting our CSM2021 pages and make the most of all the published content, so relevant and current, to help them raise cybersecurity awareness within their constituencies and build a united front in the fight against cybercrime.
Until next year, remember not to let your guard down and to stay safe online.
All resources – including social media banners, vector files, animations and translations in 18 languages – are still available for download via the CSM2021 awareness package.
Cybersecurity Month 2021 campaign page
https://connect.geant.org/csm2021
Webinar recordings
- Work like a captain, play like a pirate
Speaker: Charl van der Walt – Head of Security Research, Orange
https://youtu.be/d1YvoDrjZ0A - Think Before you Click: privacy in a highly technologised society
Speaker: Arnout Terpstra – Product Manager, SURF
https://youtu.be/QI6Wvk4O-24
- Data sharing hygiene and the implications for security
Speakers: Carolina Fernández – Senior R&D Engineer, i2CAT; Nil Ortiz – Cybersecurity Innovation Expert, i2CAT
https://youtu.be/lS-3rOC_-C4
- How to mess up yours… and your organisation’s life
Speaker: Stefan Lüders – Computer Security Officer, CERN
https://youtu.be/gj5tVNV8GCU
