October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, and as we have done the past three years we plan to use our handler diaries throughout the month to conduct a deep dive into various security issues.  In 2007 we covered a large range of subjects based on what our readers submitted as ideas.  In 2008 we took a closer look at the six steps of incident handling.  Last year we examined 31 different ports/services/protocols/applications and discussed some of the major security issues plus passed along reader comments on tips and tricks for securing it.

This year we are going to "borrow" an idea from Lance Spitzner and focus on ways to Secure the Human.  In other words, we are going to talk about Layer 8, the carbon layer.

We're still finalizing our list but here is how we think it will go each day in October.  We plan to discuss the actions taken by people, rather than ports, protocols, software, etc. as we've done the past few years.

Week One (Oct 1-9) Parents and extended family
1 - Securing the family PC
2 - Securing the family network
3 - Recognizing phishing and online scams
4 - Managing email
5 - Sites you should stay away from
6 - Computer monitoring tools
7 - Remote access and monitoring tools
8 - Patch management and system updates
9 - Disposal of an old computer

Week Two (Oct 10-16) Children, schools, and young friends
10 - Safe browsing for pre-teens
11 - Safe browsing for teens
12 - Social media usage
13 - Online bullying
14 - Securing a public computer
15 - What teachers need to know about their students
16 - Securing a donated computer

Week Three (Oct 17-23) Bosses
17 - What a boss should and should not have access to
18 - What you should tell your boss when there's a crisis
19 - VPN and remote access tools
20 - Securing mobile devices
21 - Dealing with insane requests from the boss
22 - Security of removable media
23 - Importance of compliance

Week Four (Oct 24-31) Co-workers
24 - Using work computers at home
25 - Using home computers for work
26 - Sharing office files
27 - Use of social media in the office
28 - Role of the employee
29 - Role of the office geek
30 - Role of the network team
31 - Tying it all together

By the way, Cyber Security Awareness Month has expanded beyond the United States.  Since 2007, Canada also recognizes the month of October for cyber security awareness.  If you know of other countries that are recognizing October as Cyber Security Awareness Month, please pass them to us via our contact form and we'll update this diary to get a more complete list.

Canada:  http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/em/cbr/index-eng.aspx
United States:  http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1158611596104.shtm
 

As the month goes on all diaries in this set can be found with the following link:  http://isc.sans.edu/tag.html?tag=2010%20cyber%20security%20awareness%20month

Marcus H. Sachs
Director, SANS Internet Storm Center