October was National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and Symantec published a series of posts on how we're meeting Our Shared Responsibility to secure the Internet. Previous posts included National Cyber Security Awareness Month Turns 10! by Michael Kaiser, Executive Director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, Being Mobile: Best Practices for Keeping Your Child Safe on Mobile Technology by Marian Merritt, Norton Internet Safety Advocate, Is Your Family “Switched On”? by the UK PR team, and more. Today, we conclude this series with a post looking at highlights of our NCSAM activities across the globe.
This October marked the tenth annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). Started as a public-private partnership between the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the U.S. Government, the annual event has been adopted by governments and industry around the world with the goal of creating a safer, more secure online environment. Ten years later, the initiative has grown to include more than 300 companies, universities, and organizations.
Symantec has been a proud member of the NCSA since it was founded, and every year has sponsored and participated in NCSAM activities to promote cybersecurity awareness for individuals, businesses, and organizations.
Because cybersecurity is a major focus of governments around the globe to secure citizens’ data, as well as to protect critical infrastructure systems, Symantec plays an active role in public policy, and partners with many governments to provide training, share threat information, and broaden overall awareness. Below is a snapshot of just a few of the events the Symantec Global Government Affairs team participated in to support the broader objectives of NCSAM around the world.
Symantec Participates in Seoul Conference on Cyberspace and Signs MoU with Korea Cyber Terror Response Center
Symantec participated in the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace, a major international summit on cybersecurity which gathered approximately 1,000 delegates from more than 90 countries for discussions on a broad range of cyber issues, including international security and cybercrime. At the conference, we spoke on the Cybersecurity Panel about the importance of public-private partnerships and the distinct roles that governments and industry play. During the same week, Symantec signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korea National Police Agency’s Cyber Terror Response Center (CTRC). This new partnership establishes a framework for Symantec and the CTRC to increase cyber awareness education and share cyber threat information.
Get Safe Online Week
In partnership with Get Safe Online, a not for profit initiative funded by the UK Government and the private sector, Symantec launched the “Switched On” campaign targeted at parents with the aim of giving them the confidence, information and tools to help their children stay safe online. As part of the campaign, Symantec is providing a consumer telephone hotline where UK residents with online safety concerns can get advice on Internet security and parental controls. In addition, we partnered with the Neighbourhood Watch association to distribute leaflets at meetings where the discussion topic is online safety.
Symantec Co-Hosts Cybersecurity Conference with Bloomberg Government
To cap off the month-long series of events, Symantec and Bloomberg Government partnered to host a cybersecurity conference titled “Cybersecurity: Risk. Response. Reward.” The event brought together a wide range of industry and government leaders, including the White House, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Financial Services Roundtable, and Information Technology Industry Council, for a series of discussions on protecting commerce and markets, public-private partnerships, and effective cyber strategies. Click to watch a recording of the Bloomberg Government Conference.
As a globally connected and shared resource, securing the Internet is a shared responsibility that involves citizens, businesses and governments. While NCSAM is officially designated in October every year, the efforts to raise awareness about cyber security do not begin and end with the month. As the global leader in online and endpoint security, Symantec participates throughout the year in numerous public-private partnership initiatives to address the intersection between cyber security, public policy and technology.
We hope you will follow these activities online at Symantec's Government Affairs and Corporate Responsibility websites.
Cheri F. McGuire is Symantec's Vice President of Global Government Affairs & Cybersecurity Policy.