Capitol marks National Cyber Security Awareness Month with special events, activities

With a recent, high-profile breach potentially impacting 143 million Americans – close to half the population – cybersecurity is already on the front burner as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) begins on October 1.

“It’s very sobering,” Dr. William Butler, chair of the cybersecurity program at Capitol Technology University, says of the attack. “This incident hits closer to home, for most Americans, than previous breaches did. Almost everyone depends on credit to some degree or another, and until now it was widely assumed that the credit rating agencies had the ability to protect vital data. That assumption has now been forever shattered.”

Building public awareness of cybersecurity threats is a high priority for Butler and his colleagues in Capitol's program, one of the nation’s first. During NCSAM, Capitol is undertaking several activities designed to keep the spotlight on cybersecurity issues, including an October 14 Cybersaturday event at the school’s renowned Cyber Lab.

On October 20, nationally known cybersecurity educator Dr. Diana L. Burley will address students in Capitol’s two doctoral programs – a DSc program in cybersecurity and a PhD in management and decision sciences – as they arrive for their doctoral residency. Executive director and chair of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P) and a professor at George Washington University, Dr. Burley also co-chairs the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) Joint Task Force on Cybersecurity Education.

During the month, Capitol will also host Maryland MESA students from area high schools for a day of cybersecurity-related education and activities, and the cybersecurity program will also be conducting a poster contest for undergraduates.

“NCSAM is always an exciting time for us at Capitol,” Butler said. “We are one of the most experienced schools in the nation, indeed around the globe, when it comes to cybersecurity education. We take cybersecurity very seriously at Capitol and it gives a great sense of honor to be working to help protect Americans from the widening array of cybercriminals and adversaries. NCSAM provides an opportunity to shine the spotlight on what we do.”

“The events and activities during October are a representative sample of what we do throughout the year,” he said.

Butler also recommended that consumers concerned about the Equifax Breach should consult a webpage set up by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): "The Equifax Data Breach: What to Do | Consumer Information": https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax-data-breach-what-do

Capitol is a NSA and DHS-designated Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in cybersecurity education. It offers cybersecurity programs at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. For more information, contact the cybersecurity program at cyberevents@captechu.edu