October would be designated as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month under a bipartisan resolution introduced by U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).
“Increasing overall cybersecurity awareness, prevention measures and educational resources will help protect Americans from attacks and attempted hacks,” Sen. Rounds said last week.
Senate Resolution (S.Res.) 410, which Sen. Rounds cosponsored on Oct. 7 with sponsor U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) and five fellow original cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would support the goals and ideals of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month to raise awareness and enhance the state of cybersecurity in the United States, according to the resolution’s text.
“As the ranking member of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am glad to join this bipartisan effort to bring attention to Cybersecurity Awareness Month and work to deter cyberattacks in our businesses, homes, government and military,” said Sen. Rounds.
If enacted, S.Res. 410 also would recognize the grave threat cyberattacks, including ransomware attacks, pose to national security and would highlight steps individuals and businesses could take to protect their networks, including setting strong passwords and using multi-factor authentication to improve their individual cybersecurity, according to the text.
“National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an important way to help educate people, businesses and government officials about how they can protect themselves and their customers from cyberattacks that could significantly disrupt our daily lives and livelihoods,” said Sen. Peters.
Additionally, S.Res. 410 would underscore the importance of public-private collaboration to ensure the U.S. has the tools and resources needed to respond to and recover from cyberattacks, as well as the importance of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The resolution has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.