Cyber Security Awareness Month (Cyber Month) is an internationally recognized campaign held each October to help the public learn more about the importance of cyber security. The campaign helps Canadians stay secure online by teaching them simple steps to protect themselves and their devices.
The theme for Cyber Security Awareness Month 2023 is Step up your cyber fitness. It’s all about stretching your cyber security muscles and taking things one step at a time! Cyber security is a shared responsibility, so join us and other organizations across Canada in promoting cyber security by participating in Cyber Month.
Cyber Security Awareness Month digital resources
On this page
- What is Get Cyber Safe?
- What is Cyber Security Awareness Month?
- What’s new this year?
- Why become a Cyber Security Awareness Month champion?
- How to participate
- Resources
- Contact
The best way to raise awareness about cyber security is to have more organizations involved – including yours! Each year Get Cyber Safe picks a specific cyber security topic or theme to promote for Cyber Month. You can choose to use resources that reflect the yearly theme or are theme-agnostic Cyber Month resources. Either way, these resources can help make participating easier. Show your audience that you care about their cyber security by using our Cyber Month resources.
What is Get Cyber Safe?
Get Cyber Safe is a Government of Canada public awareness campaign led by the Communications Security Establishment, with advice from its Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, to inform Canadians about the simple steps they can take to help themselves to stay safe online. Get Cyber Safe is the Canadian lead for Cyber Security Awareness Month.
What is Cyber Security Awareness Month?
Cyber Month is an internationally recognized campaign held every October to inform the public of the importance of cyber security.
What's new this year?
Want to participate in Cyber Security Awareness Month, but prefer not to use Get Cyber Safe’s 2023 theme? Select from our theme agnostic resources to help make participating in Cyber Month easier than ever.
The theme for #CyberMonth2023 is Step up your cyber fitness. Just like starting a new fitness routine, finding the motivation to become your best, most cyber safe self can be tough. But with the right coach (or your friends at Get Cyber Safe), you can accomplish even the most daunting tasks. It’s all about stretching your cyber security muscles and taking things one step at a time!
Week 1: Warmup week
October 2 to 6
The best workouts always begin with a good warmup. This week, we’ll lay the groundwork for the rest of Cyber Month, covering topics like:
- common cyber threats
- tools that can keep you safe online
- simple steps to start and practice getting cyber safe
Week 2: Account workout
October 9 to 13
Here’s where the workout really begins. This week, we’ll work up a metaphorical sweat by learning how and why to:
- use strong and unique passwords and passphrases
- enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- avoid phishing and social engineering scams
Week 3: Learning self-defence
October 16 to 20
Beat cyber criminals to the punch by defending your devices! This week, we’ll cover the ways you can keep your devices protected, including:
- installing anti-virus software
- using a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- securing your home Wi-Fi
Week 4: Maintaining muscle
October 23 to 27
Staying in good cyber shape means keeping on top of your security habits. This week, we’ll talk about the ways you can automate your cyber safety, like:
- using a password manager
- enabling automatic updates
- backing up your data
Week 5: Strength in numbers
October 30 to 31
Share your motivation with the world! This week, we’ll teach you how to be a coach for your family, friends and coworkers with advice on:
- talking about cyber security with older adults
- teaching kids about cyber threats
- helping your office get cyber safe
Why become a Cyber Cyber Security Awareness Month champion?
Champions are key to the success of Cyber Month and the Get Cyber Safe campaign. The more Canadians learn about staying safe online, the more resilient we’ll all be against cyber threats.
The best way to raise awareness about cyber security is to have more organizations involved — and that includes yours! Being a Cyber Month champion helps show your audience that you care about their cyber security
How to participate
- Talk about the importance of Cyber Security Awareness Month with employees within your organization – our internal communication messages can help
- Use our pre‑crafted social messages and graphics to engage your audience - the ones in the toolkit can be co‑branded
- Use our hashtags #CyberMonth2023, #GetCyberSafe, #Cyber and #CyberSecurity and tag @GetCyberSafe to be a part of the conversation
- Reach out to collaborate, tag us in your posts and share your successes with us!
Resources
Check out our Cyber Security Awareness Month resources!
Contact Get Cyber Safe
Thank you for helping to keep Canadians safe by promoting cyber security! If you have any questions or concerns or would like more information on Cyber Security Awareness Month or the Get Cyber Safe campaign, please contact us by email at contact@cyber.gc.ca.
