October was Cybersecurity Awareness Month. During October 2024, the Commonwealth Office of Technology offered several ways for state staff to engage in cybersecurity events.
COT management sponsored four drawings for cybersecurity event participants to win Amazon gift cards and one drawing from among those with highest participation entries to win an Amazon gift card.
Winners of the drawings:
$25 gift cards
- Charles Kiser (DOR)
- John C Schwartz (DOCJT)
- Samantha F Albuquerque (CHFS DPH DPQI)
- Edward L Via (KYTC)
$50 gift card
State staff gained entries in the drawings in the following ways:
- One entry can be gained for participation in each event of the virtual presentations listed below on this web page.
- One entry per request can be gained for replying to feedback requests sent to presentation participants after each session.
- One entry can be gained for each answer to security quiz questions emailed once a week throughout October 2024. So keep an eye out and follow the link in the email to take the quiz and earn your points.
- One entry can be gained for providing a cybersecurity suggestion during the month of October 2024.
FEATURED CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS PRESENTATIONS
COT partners with other vendors to provide presentations throughout the month of October on the latest cybersecurity technologies. Please reference this page for final dates and times.
All times are Eastern Standard TImes (EST).
Thursday, October 3, 2024, from 10 AM – 11 AM (EST), Fortinet presents:
“Secrets of a Successful Cybersecurity Defense”
There is hard-won knowledge that is passed down through the ranks. Making sure our defenses are at their peak is paramount to warding off those that mean to do us harm. When the enemies are at our ports, these are the tenets that will keep our (fire)walls strong. Do you know the secrets of a successful cybersecurity defense?
John Wagnon is an Enterprise Systems Engineer with Fortinet where he provides technical security solutions for some of the largest companies in the world. John is certified in several industry-relevant areas including Fortinet NSE 7 (Security Architect), CISSP, Certified Ethical Hacker and Six Sigma (Process Improvement).
Thursday, October 10, 2024, from 10 AM – 11 AM (EST), CISA presents: “Best Practices for Increasing Communication and Collaboration for Cybersecurity between Government Agencies.”
Often overlooked, open, effective, and efficient communication is crucial when threat actors attack. Having the most accurate and complete information on the biggest and most conniving cyber assailants could mean the difference between devastation and successfully thwarting a digital assault. Are you following the communication best practices to ensure the best possible outcome?
Bridget Bean is the Executive Director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), serving as the senior career official for CISA responsible for the internal operationalization of the agency’s priorities and resources to meet our mission requirements. By driving integration and alignment internally and externally, the EXDIR drives enterprise operational excellence and institutional continuity to realize the full range of the agency’s capabilities.
Thursday, October 17, 2024, from
10 AM – 11 AM (EST), BHIS presents:
“Major Threat Actors for Government Agencies”
Many cybersecurity watchdog agencies report a recent, significant increase in attacks against government agencies. Are these attacks targeted, are they opportunistic, are these reports even accurate? In this presentation, we’ll endeavor to answer these questions, review the importance of attacker motivation and methodology, and discuss how the current threat landscape can and should inform how government agencies build an effective strategy in defense of the critical systems, services and infrastructure they are entrusted to protect.
Patterson Cake joined the Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) pirate ship in June of 2023 as a Security Analyst focusing primarily on detection engineering and digital forensics and incident response. He chose BHIS because, to paraphrase, “doing cool stuff with cool people” and “making the world a better/safer place” is exactly how he wants to spend his professional time and energy. Prior to joining the team, Patterson helped build and lead a DFIR practice for an MSSP, worked as a senior security engineer for AWS Managed Services, and spent several years in enterprise cybersecurity.
Thursday, October 24, 2024, from 10 AM – 11 AM (EST), CISA presents:
“Reducing the Risk of Attack on Cyber and Physical Infrastructure for State Government.”
Sometimes it isn’t about the presence of defense. Reducing the surface available for attackers to pursue and reducing risky practices are often the best way to keeping threats from finding a vulnerability to carry out their nefarious deeds. How can we reduce the risk of attack, both online and on-site?
Julius Gamble serves as the Regional Director for Region 4 of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In this role, he leads CISA’s efforts to reduce risk and enhance the cyber and physical resiliency of critical infrastructure throughout the eight southeastern states (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC and TN). He works with public sector partners, such as state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as private-sector organizations essential to the nation’s homeland security.
NOTE to Attendees:
If you are unable to join using the provided links, please email
COTSecurityFeedback@ky.gov from your state issued email address to gain the Meeting ID and Passcode for the dates you wish to attend.
Automatically generated closed captions available through Microsoft Teams Options menu. Sign language interpreter will be provided. If additional accommodations are required, please email us with details at
COTSecurityFeedback@ky.gov.