The Human Factor: Outsmarting Cyber Threats with Awareness - Ep 118

In this episode, we are joined by Lisa Plaggemier, Executive Director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA),  to discuss the NCA’s mission, current initiatives, and the importance of cybersecurity education. They highlight key programs, their collaboration with CISA on cybersecurity campaigns, and their efforts to simplify cybersecurity for the public and businesses. The conversation touches on challenges in public awareness, the role of AI in cybersecurity, and special initiatives for small businesses and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Tune in to learn how cybersecurity affects everyone from teens to seniors, and what you can do to stay safe online.

Key Takeaways:

• The NCA’s Mission: The NCA focuses on educating people of all ages, especially those entering or leaving the workforce, on simple yet impactful cybersecurity practices.
  • “Our mission is really around public education… those not yet in the workforce—maybe in their teens or 20s—and folks no longer in the workforce.”
• Collaboration with CISA: The NCA values its partnership with CISA, which has amplified cybersecurity messaging through larger campaigns and public service announcements (PSAs).
  • “They’ve put more budget behind things like PSAs and developing the campaign.”
• Simplifying Cybersecurity for the Public: The NCA's focus is on encouraging a few basic, effective security behaviors, such as enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • “If we could get large portions of the public to make a couple of simple changes, what would make the biggest dent in global cybercrime?”
• Cybersecurity and Small Businesses: The NCA’s Cyber Secure My Business program helps small business owners treat cybersecurity as a business risk and improve conversations with their IT service providers.
  •  “Teaching them how to manage security as a business risk and have a quality conversation with their MSP or IT provider.”
• Educating First-Generation College Students at HBCUs: NCA has launched programs to help first-gen students at HBCUs discover cybersecurity career opportunities.
  • “We focus on all the different cybersecurity roles to help them find something they’ll be happy doing.”
• AI and Cybersecurity Concerns: The podcast explores public trust in AI and generational differences in perception, with older individuals being more skeptical of AI technologies.
  • “[Unsurprisingly] it turns out older folks don’t trust it as much as younger folks!”
• Supporting Aging Adults Against Cybercrime: Lisa and Rob talk about the challenges older adults face with cybercrime and how the NCA is working to educate seniors and their caregivers.
  •  “The data on cybercrime losses with aging adults is just gutting…”
• The Kubicle campaign: A humorous yet educational series showing how hackers work like regular employees, aimed at making cybersecurity relatable to a broader audience.
  •  “The campaign had over 8 million views… showing people that hackers are sitting in cubicles like the rest of us.”

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