As of January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is in effect. This means that California residents have new data privacy rights – forcing businesses in California to implement structural changes to their privacy programs. Two of the biggest challenges that businesses face when it comes to CCPA compliance is a lack of time and bandwidth.

The concept of network security has been in existence for decades. With organizations using more sensitive information, the need to create policies that would limit access and control of a network has increased. At first, these policies involved nothing more than inputting a name and PIN or password on a computer. With the invention of smart cards, however, network security methods have changed.

Youth today are being raised in a connected world, yet they lack the knowledge and instincts necessary to keep themselves safe and secure online. Tablets, laptops, and smart devices are now the norm at home and school. One of the shortcomings in K-12 education is that students are taught to use various technologies, but they are not introduced to the threats they face while using them.

Survey after survey indicate that the general public’s understanding of simple cybersecurity hygiene concepts, such as using strong passwords, is fairly good. Pew Research Center found that the majority of people know what a strong password is. Yet, their behaviors show otherwise. This presents critical challenges if you want to accurately measure your security culture in order to reduce business and operational risk.

Since Hacktober was created by Facebook in 2011, many companies have integrated Hacktober campaigns into the workplace to help educate employees on the importance of cybersecurity and how to recognize a cyber attack. With a trove of financial and customer data contained on their networks, businesses have a lot to protect. But so do universities and their students.

In 2018 alone, there were more than 2,000 security breaches and 53,000 medical IoT security incidents discovered in 53 countries. What's the picture looking like for 2019 and how confident are you that your health information is safe from exploitation?

Did you say free security awareness videos? Yes, that’s right. Adobe, National Cyber Security Alliance, and Speechless have partnered to bring you a series of security awareness videos. The plan is to release one video every other month starting November 2019. A total of eight videos will be released.  

As Wells Fargo’s chief information security officer (CISO), my responsibility is to protect private customer data from bad actors. Through a dedicated team and network of technology, we build defenses to keep your data safe. You should expect strong cybersecurity from the organizations you trust with your financial information. But, that is only part of the equation. My team is only as good as the first line of defense, which is you.

Your personal information is valuable. That’s why hackers try to steal it. This year, for National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we’ve got tips to help you keep your personal information from ending up in the hands of a hacker.