You wouldn’t invite the public to read your bank statements or private letters. You wouldn’t invite a stranger to do whatever he or she wanted with your home.
But as the Internet becomes more pervasive in our everyday lives, these are just the kinds of risks people can run if they don’t take cyber security seriously.
Gov. Bev Perdue has declared that October is Cyber Security Awareness month to highlight the importance of good security practices in both business and at home.
We depend on the Internet and the information systems that support many of the services we use every day: financial services, energy, telecommunications, transportation, utilities, health care and emergency response systems. Keeping the infrastructure and computing systems secure for these and other services benefits us all.
North Carolina state government has support for a sound computer security infrastructure throughout all levels of government, including the Governor’s Office and the Office of the State CIO. But you don’t have to be an information technology professional or a big organization to be smart about security.
Many of the safe practices we use throughout North Carolina government can be used at home, too.
I invite everyone to visit the North Carolina Cyber Security Awareness website. It features security tips, advisories, links to related websites and documentation and several items for kids. Learn how you can improve your cyber security preparedness and help promote a safer Internet experience at work and at home.