- Events
- NCSAM Themes
- Online training videos
- Cybersecurity Awareness Contest
- Security Advocates trivia
- Zoom backgrounds
- Resources
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Join us as we celebrate with awareness videos, contests, information booths, as well as online and in-person presentations on securing personal and UW data and devices.
Events
- All events are for members of the UW community.
- Online presentations will require a UW NetID to log in.
(This is event was previously scheduled on Wed, October 4th)
- Date: Tuesday, October 10th
- Time: Any time between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
- Location: Odegaard 220
Stop by to learn about how to secure UW data, devices, and your own personal accounts, credentials, and home devices. There will be information stations focused on 6 key themes and you’ll about events, training, and awareness contests planned throughout the month. Spin the wheel for OIS-branded prizes, and enjoy coffee and refreshments.
- Date: Monday, October 9th
- Time: 9:00-noon
- Location: HUB patio
Stop by to hear about about common phishing tactics and scams and other cyber security risks and threats, and learn steps you can take to secure your accounts, data, and devices.
- Date: Wednesday, October 11th
- Time: 3:00-4:00 p.m.
- Location: Online
Link to register
An online presentation for UW staff, faculty, and researchers. Topics include: UW policies and data classifications, protecting login credentials, recognizing and reporting phishing and scams, securing devices and connections, managing passwords, tips for travel and working from home, and permissions for collaborative tools.
- Date: Tuesday, October 17th
- Time: 4:00-5:00 p.m.
- Location: Online
Link to register
An online presentation for UW students. Topics include: protecting login credentials, recognizing and reporting phishing and scams, and securing devices and connections.
- Date: Wednesday, October 18th
- Time: 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
- Location: Next to George Washington statue on George Washington Lane
- More information
- Link to register
We’ll bring the data destruction truck; you bring your loose hard drives and paper to watch them get shredded! Join us on George Washington Lane near the statue of George to let go of any data on disks or paper that you no longer need.
- Date: Friday, October 20th
- Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.
- Location: Online
Link to register
An online presentation for UW staff, faculty, and researchers. Topics include: UW policies and data classifications, protecting login credentials, recognizing and reporting phishing and scams, securing devices and connections, managing passwords, tips for travel and working from home, and permissions for collaborative tools.
- Date/time: Monday, Oct. 23rd, 11:00-noon
- Location: Online
- Link to register
Description:
“Spiders, and Pandas, and Bears (Oh My!) – An Update on the Bad-guys Attacking Healthcare”
We’ll go over a brief-history of healthcare’s evolution as a primary target for cyber-adversaries. Dive into some details on those adversaries, their org structure, and growing sophistication; and talk about ideas for building a sound, resilient security program that can stop breaches.
Biography:
Drex DeFord, Executive Healthcare Strategist at Crowdstrike, has broad experience as a senior healthcare executive, including a 20-year US Air Force officer, culminating as Chief Technology Officer for Air Force Health’s World-Wide Operations. After retiring from the military, he served as CIO at Scripps Health in San Diego, Seattle Children’s, and Steward Healthcare. He’s Past-Chair of CHIME’s Board of Trustees, and has served on the HIMSS National Board. Over the past several years – as an independent consultant (and “Recovering-CIO”) – he helped lead trusted health systems, payers, associations, vendors, and investors through their work on healthcare’s toughest problems. In March 2021, he joined CrowdStrike as Executive Healthcare Strategist. He’s passionate about the mission to stop breaches, and better secure clinical, research, and healthcare business operations.
- Date: Tuesday, October 24th
- Time: 3:00-4:00 p.m.
- Location: Online
- Link to register
Chester Wisniewski, Field CTO Applied Research at Sophos, will speak about the risks associated with AI-generated phishing and social engineering attacks.
With more than 25 years of security experience, his interest in security and privacy first peaked while learning to hack from bulletin board text files in the 1980s, and has since been a lifelong pursuit.
- Date: Wednesday, October 25th (Canceled due to rain)
- Time: 9:00-noon
- Location: HUB patio
Stop by to hear about about common phishing tactics and scams and other cyber security risks and threats, and learn steps you can take to secure your accounts, data, and devices.
- Date: Wednesday, October 25th
- Time: 3:00-4:00 p.m.
- Location: Online
Link to register
An online presentation for UW students. Topics include: protecting login credentials, recognizing and reporting phishing and scams, and securing devices and connections.
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 26th
- Time: 3:00-4:30 p.m.
- Location: Online
- Link to register
Check this page to learn how to prepare for this 10/26 trivia contest-and a chance to win prizes. What is a Security Advocate?
- Date/time: Monday, Oct. 30th, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
- Location: Online
- Link to register
Description:
Staying Ahead of Evolving Cyber Threats: Strategies for Today’s Landscape
The evolution of the cyber threat landscape can create an illusion of unpredictability. Understanding the significance of recent events gives visibility into the shifting dynamics of adversary tactics, which is critical for staying ahead of and ultimately defeating today’s threats. Today’s threat landscape features security concerns that must be shared across all levels of the organization. As security teams assess the evolving threat landscape, what changes are actually required, and what can be done about it? Join this presentation as Tina Thorstenson discusses how:
- Sophisticated adversaries are exploiting stolen credentials and identities to amplify ransomware attacks and infiltrate cloud environments
- Malicious actors are intensifying attacks on critical cloud infrastructure with new, sophisticated approaches
- Organizations can implement the right combination of security tools to stop an adversary with speed
- Effective security strategies help address the emerging threat landscape
- To look ahead to next-level threats
Biography:
Tina Thorstenson, VP of the Industry Business Unit and Executive Strategist at CrowdStrike, provides strategic advisory services related to enterprise cybersecurity solutions across all industry verticals and specifically including Government, Education and Healthcare. Just prior to joining CrowdStrike, she served as the Chief Information Security Officer & Deputy CIO for Arizona State University capping a career of public sector service spanning 25+ years where the last 11 of those years she held the title of CISO. She’s passionate about the mission to stop breaches.
Themes

Use 2FA

Passwords

Updates

Phishing

Backups

Disposal
Resources
- UW Medicine Information Security: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- National Cybersecurity Alliance: Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- CISA: Secure Our World
- OIS: Glossary