For the fourth consecutive year, TAG are proud to be Champions of Cybersecurity Awareness Month again!
Together with the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance, we’re driving online safety forward—helping individuals and businesses stay smart, stay safe, and stay one step ahead of cybercrime.
This year’s theme is #StaySafeOnline, so for the entire of the month of October, we will be sharing tips and tricks on how to do just that. Be sure to check out our social media posts and keep this page refreshed all month to get tips and tricks on how to protect yourself and your organization not just for the month of October, but all year round!
Stay tuned!
The National Cybersecurity Alliance in partnership with CybSafe have released their 2024-2025 report called Oh Behave! The Annual Cybersecurity Attitude and Behaviors. This report polls thousands of individuals across India, Germany, U.K., U.S., New Zealand, and Australia to find how people behave online. In this year’s round up, it was found that:
Online users must be more careful than ever when browsing the web. Based on the information collected, The National Cybersecurity Alliance and Cybsafe have identified 5 critical cybersecurity behaviors for users to focus on, four of which are the focus of this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month:
We understand that keeping yourself safe online can be difficult. With the help of organizations like the National Cybersecurity Alliance, we’ve put together an easy-to-follow guide on how you and the digital advertising industry can #BeSafeOnline.
Check out our tip sheets below!
Turn on Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security to account logins, requiring at least two distinct forms of authentication—like a password in addition to a code sent to your phone, or your fingerprint. The survey found that 81% of participants had heard of MFA, which is an 11% increase from the previous year. However, actual usage of MFA remains lower than that at just 66%.
Advertising accounts are sought after by criminals https://mistermarketeer.com.sg/blog/why-do-scammers-hack-your-ad-accounts-and-whats-in-it-for-them. Having strong authentication to access those accounts is the first line of defense for the digital advertising industry, which is where our first 2 tips, strong passwords and MFA play a role.
Check out our tipsheet on how and why you should secure accounts today!
In this year’s Oh Behave! report, 35% of participants admitted to poor or lacking password hygiene. While there are many different organizations who have their own recommendations with varying rigour, they all generally share the same suggestions:
There is a gap between the awareness of the importance of software updates and the actual behavior of installing them. While the majority of participants know how to install updates (62%), a notable number either delay (16%) or avoid doing so (20%).
The first step is to understand all software assets in an organization, including any adtech operations components. Next is to ensure software is updated to the latest secure version. Whether you’re a publisher, intermediary, or advertiser, closed or open-source software components require constant monitoring. This isn’t hypothetical – criminals are trying to exploit vulnerabilities in adtech operations software!
Check out the report and our tipsheet for other ways to seamlessly update your software!
The majority of participants reported high confidence in their ability to recognize phishing emails or malicious links. However, could you or your colleagues do this whilst under normal working conditions? Phishing scams are prevalant and damaging: https://learn.g2.com/most-common-phishing-attacks. If an email looks suspicious (be wary of hyperlinks of attachments) — report it to your security team. Your vigilance helps protect you and our industry.
Learn how you can combat the increasing sophistication of phishing attempts!
