The National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) is an annual campaign held in October that focuses on raising awareness about cyber security and resilience. The NCAM was first observed in 2004 as a joint effort between the U.S Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance.
"Wherever there is technology there needs to be cybersecurity"
Implementing cybersecurity best practices is important for organisations of all sizes to protect personal, financial and sensitive information.
Awareness Day One:
Cyber awareness and training ALL staff in an organisation is incredibly important throughout the year and should be continuous and up to date. Being aware of cyber threats and understanding how they work is the first line of defence.
Watch our free video about why training staff is so important:
While we provide training as part of our online platform, the NCSC also provides free training for school staff:
Cyber security training for school staff
Cyber Security awareness training is very closely linked with data protection training and we have already published a series of links:
Data Protection and Cyber Security (Inset Day) Training Ideas
Are you looking for some data protection training for your inset day(s) at the start of term? Here are some ideas about how to raise awareness around data protection and cyber security for your staff.
The training should be relevant, accurate and up to date. Training and awareness makes sure that all employees receive appropriate training about your privacy programme, including what its goals are, what it requires people to do and what responsibilities they have.
Remember that data protection training should be part of your staff onboarding process. All staff should receive refresher training, regardless of how long they will be working for your organisations, their contractual status or grade. Staff should complete refresher training at appropriate intervals.
The ICO advises:
Further guidance about training: ICO: Training and Awareness which is part of the Accountability Framework.
We would recommend that staff are aware of your own data protection policies and procedures, their own responsibilities regards data protection and cyber security/cyber awareness training.
We've put together a list of free resources for training:
Data Protection Education Resources
The News Pages of the Data Protection Education Website - this gives up to date data protection and cyber security awareness.
If you are a school, review our Schools Best Practice Area, the Examples and Advice tab will give school related examples of data breaches, cyber attacks and reprimands that some school staff may relate to.
Review our Training Courses, as videos can be played in a meeting for staff that may not have regular access to a computer.
Where's Harry the Hacker worksheet is a good interactive training resources to spot data breaches and create discussion.
Review the DPE Drip Feeds - posters section of our website, for posters to print and create awareness as part of your training programme.
Regularly check in with your Data Protection Education consultant as part of our commitment to compliance for more guidance about training.
If you are a school, we recommend also reviewing how cyber training now links to Keeping Children Safe in Education for September:
If you are a Data Protection Education customer then all staff can be added to our Knowledge Bank and assigned training courses, including your governors and trustees: Introduction to the Knowledge Bank
ICO Data Protection Training
The ICO provides a series of short training videos:
- An introduction to data protection for small businesses and sole traders
- Data protection for direct marketing: a two-minute guide
- Data protection explained in three minutes
- Top tips for small businesses in the land and property sector
- Data protection in small schools
- Data protection for small healthcare organisations
- Cyber security guidance for small businesses
- Training resources for small businesses
- How to make your next subject access request easier to handle
- Two minutes on privacy notices
- Two minutes on records management
- Data Sharing Series - Safeguarding Children
- Soft opt-in for email and text marketing: a two-minute guide
- Data protection and telephone marketing: a two-minute guide
Cyber Security Training
NCSC Top Tips for Staff Interactive Video
Cyber Security Training for School Staff
Additional free training can be viewed on YouTube: Secure our World YouTube Channel
or download our free 'Harry the Hacker' training!