October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Hawaiʻi

Gov. Josh Green, M.D. has proclaimed October Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Hawai‘i, in recognition of the state’s important role in identifying cyber threats, protecting our citizens from any attacks and responding quickly when threats occur.

“Cybersecurity Awareness Month aims to increase the understanding of cyber threats and empowers the public to be safer and more secure online,” said Governor Green. “Every year it becomes more important to raise awareness about cyber risks and encourage everyone to engage in safe online practices to protect themselves and their families from malicious cyber actors.”

The proclamation supports the state’s continuing work on several cybersecurity initiatives such as promoting educational opportunities like CyberStart America (https://www.cyberstartamerica.org/) and developing a skilled cyber workforce by working within lower- and higher-education communities.

“As technology becomes more important in our daily lives, we depend more and more on safe online communications,” said Hawai‘i Chief Information Officer Christine Sakuda. “We must all do our part to reduce cyber threats impacting the public and private sectors.”

Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Hawaiʻi coincides with the national observance recognized by the US Department of Homeland Security (https://www.dhs.gov/topics/cybersecurity), the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (https://www.cisecurity.org/ms-isac), and industry partners, which collectively encourage all citizens to learn about cybersecurity to put that knowledge into practice in their homes, schools, workplaces and businesses.

The state is also working to enhance the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure providers and continuing its work in improving coordination of county, city, state and federal government activities to provide security online and fight cybercrime. 

“We are more connected than ever as we use devices for everything from accessing state and city services, to shopping at local businesses, to connecting with friends and family,” said Office of Enterprise Technology Services Chief Information Security Officer Vincent Hoang. “Our reliance on interconnected technology reminds us that being more secure online is a shared responsibility and creating a safer cyber environment requires engagement from everyone.”

The state Department of Law Enforcement, Office of Homeland Security provides planning and training efforts to prevent, protect, mitigate and respond to government cyber threats (https://law.hawaii.gov/ohs/?s=cybersecurity&searchblogs=1%2).

The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Office of Consumer Protection also works to identify potential personal cybersecurity attacks to protect our residents from fraudulent online activities (https://cca.hawaii.gov/ins/consumers/cybersecurity-insurance/).

Other partner agencies include the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA).

During Cybersecurity Awareness Month, MS-ISAC offers the “Cybersecurity Toolkit” which is available for download at https://www.cisecurity.org/ms-isac/ms-isac-toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help end users make proactive positive and effective cybersecurity behavior changes to improve their cybersecurity.

To learn more about the state government’s cybersecurity program, visit http://ets.hawaii.gov/state-of-hawaii-cyber-security-program/.