Being Aware of Cybersecurity Threats is Spooky

It seems fitting that Cybersecurity Awareness Month ends on Halloween. Now that you are aware, the thinking behind that goes, you should wind up scared ... very scared.

I took the course offered by ESET (which closes tomorrow ... so don't delay!) and while most of the tips were things I was already aware of and taking precautions, the sheer weight of the statistics about various types of fraud and hacking inspired me to do a round of password updating and other electronic housekeeping (I knew, but had been ignoring, that the wireless router in a home office is a weak link in cyber defenses). The course includes a quick "password hygeine check" at haveibeenpwned.com. You may be appalled at how many times your passwords have been exposed in breaches.

The role of project managers in improving cyber security came up numerous times in presentations at the PMI Global Conference in October.  As one presenter from Google pointed out, cybersecurity savvy PMs are badly needed in the merger and acquisition space. In a growing number of industries, data breaches are an underestimated risk, often poorly planned for until they happen. Making data security an integral part of project plans as well as including expert reviews in the risk identification process ought to become standard practice.

Meanwhile, change your router password.