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Congratulations! You have made it to the end of our 11th annual Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual campaign held each year to inform on the importance of cyber security. We hope you enjoyed leveling-up your cyber security skills and knowledge as you became a Cyber Galaxy Defender for Cyber Month 2022.

This year’s campaign theme revolved around Managing Digital Risks in both the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and Broader Public Sector (BPS) organizations. Throughout the month, participants learned about common cyber security attacks and how to protect themselves through simulated threats, defenses, and response actions. Were you registered on the cybersecurityontario.ca portal and engaged with the weekly CSAM content? If so, we encourage you to get your Cyber Galaxy Completion Certification below!

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Campaign Highlights

  • Woman working on a laptop with a magnifying glass zooming in on the CSAM homepage

    This year’s Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign had an astounding 1079 registrants and over 47,919 views, an increase of 30%!

  • Laptop and phone locked with people staying cyber secure

    Ontario’s Cyber Security Division hosted its 3rd annual cyber security conference, with over 250 in-person attendees and 950+ virtual attendees!

  • Abstract background with CSAM icons and 'Anatomy of a Hack' in text

    This year’s campaign revolved around Managing Digital Risks and was set in the virtual Cyber Galaxy, where participants were challenged weekly to level-up their skills and defeat Anon.

  • Person receiving an email that has malware

    Weekly videos, games and articles focused on vital and current topics in cyber security, such as online privacy, phishing, password hygiene and ransomware to strengthen cyber knowledge.

  • Person using multiple different methods of authentication

    To help fill the cyber security talent gap, we created two post-secondary student events with over 400 attendees geared towards educating students about entering the field of cyber security.

  • Person watching an interactive video

    Throughout the month, we hosted three Ask-Me-Anything sessions featuring cyber experts, as well as weekly interactive tabletop exercises to reinforce the topics of that week. In total, we held 16 sessions with 115 attendees!

  • Preview of cyber blogs and weekly quizzes

    To raise awareness of the daily importance of cyber security, we launched our first ever social media campaign titled “#WhyCyber” featuring cyber professionals from across the OPS and BPS.

These days we work online, we shop online, and we stay connected online. And Ontarians increasingly access services they need online. For these reasons, it is more important now than ever that we have all the tools we need to stay safe online.

The Honourable Kaleed Rasheed, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery

As Ontarians navigate an increasingly online world, they will rely on our government and organizations to protect them from digital threats. That is why we must continue to make the resilience of Ontario’s cyber defenses a shared priority.

Rhonda Bunn, Chief Information Security Officer, Ontario’s Cyber Security Division

Cyber security is, after all, a matter that impacts virtually every aspect of the work we do for our communities, and especially our delivery of critical services to Ontarians.

The Honourable Kaleed Rasheed, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery

Why is Cyber Security Important?

Today many aspects of our daily life occur online, making us more vulnerable to cyber threats. As we move towards a more digitized public sector, cyber security remains vital to maintaining cyber resilience and protecting the people of Ontario.

Did you know that phishing is the most common type of cybercrime in Canada? Since the pandemic alone, more than 34% of Canadians have received some sort of phishing attempt. Cyber skills are vital to recognizing cyber threat actors and keeping yourself cyber safe.

Every day in Ontario, government and private sector organizations are continuously fighting cybercrime to keep their customers and citizens safe. However, human error remains the #1 cause of cyber security breaches.

These days we work online, we shop online, and we stay connected online. And Ontarians increasingly access services they need online. For these reasons, it is more important now than ever that we have all the tools we need to stay safe online.

The Honourable Kaleed Rasheed, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery

As Ontarians navigate an increasingly online world, they will rely on our government and organizations to protect them from digital threats. That is why we must continue to make the resilience of Ontario’s cyber defenses a shared priority.

Rhonda Bunn, Chief Information Security Officer, Ontario’s Cyber Security Division

Cyber security is, after all, a matter that impacts virtually every aspect of the work we do for our communities, and especially our delivery of critical services to Ontarians.

The Honourable Kaleed Rasheed, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery

Managing Digital Risks in the Broader Public Sector

To kickstart Cyber Security Awareness Month 2022, the OPS held its 3rd annual cyber security conference on Monday, October 3rd. This year’s theme focused on Managing Digital Risks in the Broader Public Sector. Notably, this was the first conference to be held in hybrid format, and served more than 250 in-person attendees as well as over 950 virtual attendees. Participants engaged in riveting sessions covering topics such as Digital Risks on the Rise, Building the Next Generation Talent Pipeline, Ontario’s Privacy Landscape, and Managing the Human Factor in Cyber Security, which were led by cyber experts in the field. The exciting, full-day conference provided attendees with valuable insights on the current cyber security landscape, as well as how to best manage digital risks within organizations to improve their cyber security posture.

The message from the cyber centre is one about building resilience, resilience in Canadian businesses and resilience in society and… being on top of everyday threats and continuing to raise the bar on cyber hygiene.

Sami Khoury, Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

Partner Successes

Cyber Security Awareness Month is an annual, international campaign held each year to inform on the importance of cyber security. We thank our partners for their continued support and collaboration by celebrating their Cyber Month successes and achievements.

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

Get Cyber Safe is the national lead for Cyber Security Awareness Month (Cyber Month) in Canada. And at Get Cyber Safe, every month is Cyber Security Awareness Month! We inform Canadians about cyber security best practices year-round, and we especially look forward to each October when we work with dedicated partners from all sectors across the country. This year’s Cyber Month theme was “Fight phishing: Ruin a cyber criminal’s day” by teaching Canadians how to fight back against phishing scams.

Coding for Veterans

In 2022, the Coding for Veterans program expanded in 2 key areas. The first was to allow military spouses and family members to enroll in either the Cybersecurity or Software development streams. The second was establishing a civilianized version of the Coding for Veterans program called Cyber Skills for Canadians. This iteration of the program allows individuals who reside in Ontario to reskill from their current job into either a software development or cybersecurity career. 100% of the cost of tuition ($15,000) for individuals who enroll in the program is paid through an Employment Ontario grant. For more information, visit either www.codingforveterans.com or www.cyberskillsforcanadians.com.

Association of Municipalities of Ontario

For Cyber Security Awareness Month 2022, AMO and LAS have been promoting key cyber security best practices from our Municipal Cyber Security Toolkit through our Twitter account. You can learn more by following @LAS_Ontario!

The Cyber Security Centre of Excellence team did a tremendous job of hosting the 2022 CSAM conference. It was a 1st class event. There were a number of insightful discussions that took place with conference attendees at our Coding for Veterans display. I, along with the Coding for Veterans team am looking forward to partnering up in the future for more collaborations.

Coding for Veterans

It is thanks to our hundreds of Cyber Month partners that this year’s campaign was a resounding success.

Get Cyber Safe

AMO was pleased to attend the Government of Ontario’s 2022 Cyber Security Conference. The presenters brought forward important insights on a range of topics from the cyber security landscape including the current labour market situation. Our members in the municipal sector are very interested in efforts to develop a thriving labour market of cyber security experts to assist local municipal needs. AMO and LAS were also pleased to participate at the Conference tradeshow and meet and learn from a variety of stakeholders in the broader public sector on their cyber security efforts.

AMO/LAS

Your Cyber Journey Continues!

We thank all our participants for attending our cyber events throughout our 2022 Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign. Although October has come to an end, that doesn’t mean that your journey as a Cyber Galaxy Defender is over! We encourage you to put your newfound cyber security skills to practice by implementing what you have learned into your daily work and personal life.

Are you an elementary or secondary student, the parent of a student, an educator, or K-12 staff member? If so, we encourage you to check out the tips for becoming a cyber hero in the K-12 Cyber Awareness Month (CAM) campaign for Ontario school boards!

If you have any questions about cyber security or this year’s campaign, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at cybersecurity@ontario.ca.

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Stay Engaged!


Partners

Logo of the Ontario Provincial Police
Logo of ORION
Logo of Get Cyber Safe
Logo of anti human trafficking intelligence initiative
Logo of association of municipalities ontario
Logo of candian centre for cyber security
Logo of coding for veterans
Logo of hiroc
Logo of humint
Logo of insecm
Logo of las amo business services
Logo of rogers cybersecure catalyst
Logo of sans institute
Logo of siberX
Logo of toronto metropolitan university
Logo of youth employment services