KEEPING IDAHO SAFE DIGITALLY

COVID-19 SECURITY RESPONSE

CYBER CRIME IN THE VIRTUAL WORK WORLD

Cybersecurity Awareness Resources

Our Mission

Our primary mission is to help the State of Idaho identify cybersecurity risks, protect the systems, data and critical infrastructure entrusted to the citizens of Idaho, as well as respond to, contain and recover from the impact of any cybersecurity incident in a timely manner.

From the desk of the Chief Information Security Officer – Keith Tresh

Cybersecurity is a global threat that presents challenges for governments at all levels AND every citizen individually. Cybersecurity threats pose one of the most important challenges everyone faces today, but public awareness of the cyber threats and education about why people need to be diligent in their efforts to stay safe online remains limited. Cybersecurity is a term used and heard around the world, but the urgency and dangers to everyday citizens in today’s environment do not show that people are becoming more educated and aware of current cyber threats.

Unfortunately, and as a matter of fact, the Internet is all too often considered a safe environment for sharing information, transactions and controlling the physical world. But that is NOT the case and there is an urgent need for every citizen to be better prepared! I do not want to say that the sky is falling, but here are just a few sobering cybersecurity statistics to show you how important cybersecurity education and awareness is.

According to Barracuda Networks study, phishing email scams are up 667% since the end of February 2020 (the beginning of the COVID era).

According to a ZDNet research study, Tens of thousands of new Coronavirus-related web domains have been created since February of 2020 and 90% (9 out of every 10) of those newly created web domains are scams!

According to the Skybox Security 2020 Vulnerability and Threat Trends Report, ransomware attacks have shot up 72% since the beginning of the pandemic.

The bottom line is, if you have not taken the time to become educated/aware of the current cyber threats, how to stay safe or what resources are out there to help you recover when you are a victim of a cybercrime, I highly suggest you do the research and become more aware!

Check out our resources page to help you become a cyber warrior!