BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybersecurity is a critical component to mission success, which everyone in the chain of command has a responsibility to maintain. The 9th CS Cybersecurity office uses this month to highlight the importance of cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity awareness month is an opportunity for Airmen to be reminded of the significance of cybersecurity and their individual responsibility in ensuring operational security.
“People can get careless when it comes to cybersecurity,” said Senior Airman Tyler R. Stagland, 9th Communication Squadron information system security officer. “Having a month where we send out tips to the base refreshes everybody’s knowledge.”
According to Senior Airman Daniel M. Davis, 9th CS information system security officer, the 9th CS has been pushing out an email each week to educate Airmen how they can be more secure. The knowledge shared is designed to be used by Airmen for security at work and home.
“If someone has bad habits at home, it can leak into work,” said Davis. “So we teach people how to secure their own emails and how not give into viruses or phishing attempts.”
Davis believes that even with the Air Force’s dominance of the sky Airmen can fail to recognize the dangers enemies pose in cyberspace.
“People sometimes aren’t aware that there are rivals on the world stage who can stand toe-to-toe with us in the cybersecurity realm,” said Davis. “A lot of that is due to everyone being a potential target.”
Airmen across all career fields could potentially possess information, which may be useful to our nation’s adversaries, so the importance of cybersecurity is paramount to mission success.
“There’s a bigger threat out there than most people know. It sounds corny, but we are the world’s greatest Air Force and we do a lot,” said Stagland. “There are people out there who want to know what we’re doing.”