UWF Center for Cybersecurity

Thank you to everyone who attended last night's UWF Night of Cyber event. We also want to give a huge shout-out to our amazing panelists, Britteny Turner, Thomas Della Flora, Jason Burt, and Steven G. McDonald. 🎉 To learn more about #UWFCyber, visit https://lnkd.in/dMdwgCS. University of West Florida #CybersecurityCareerWeek #CyberCareers

Happy Halloween from UWF Cyber and our extraordinary team member Dr. Elizabeth Rasnick or should I say Lady Ada Lovelace! Lady Ada Lovelace was a 19th-century mathematician, often called the first computer programmer. She worked on an early computer designed by Charles Babbage and created the first algorithm meant for a machine, showing that computers could do more than just math. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #cybersecurityawareness #UWFCyber #SecureOurWorld

Using the same password for everything? That’s a major cybersecurity risk! If one account gets hacked, all your others could as well. Keep your digital life secure by creating unique passwords for each account. Use a password manager to make it easy! Your data deserves the best protection! #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #cybersecurityawareness #UWFCyber

Don’t miss out—UWF Night of Cyber is happening TODAY! Dive into the exciting world of cyber careers and explore your future in cybersecurity. 🕠 Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM CT 📍 Location: UWF Commons, Auditorium (Bldg. 22) University of West Florida #NightOfCyber #ChooseCyber #CybersecurityCareerWeek #UWFCyber

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from cyber threats is also one of the most overlooked — keeping your devices and software up to date. Whether it’s your phone, laptop, or the apps you use daily, staying current with updates is critical to maintaining security and functionality. Here’s why updates matter: Security Patches: Software updates often contain patches for vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. By updating, you close those security gaps before they can be targeted. New Features & Improvements: Updates bring security enhancements and new features and performance improvements that keep your devices running smoothly. Better Compatibility: Up-to-date software is more likely to work seamlessly with other apps and devices, ensuring everything runs as it should. It’s tempting to hit “remind me later,” but each delay increases your risk of exposure to cyber threats. Whether it’s automatic updates or manual installations, make updating a regular habit to keep your devices secure. A simple step today can save you a lot of trouble tomorrow. Image from: https://lnkd.in/gh5GUw9W #CyberSecurity #SoftwareUpdates #DeviceSecurity #StaySecure #OnlineSafety #UpdateNow #CyberAwareness #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #CAM #SecureOurWorld #UWFCyber

Cybersecurity Month may be coming to a close in a few days, but our mission to secure the world continues! Every step we take makes a difference. Let’s stay sharp and keep our digital spaces safe all year long! #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #cybersecurityawareness #UWFCyber #SecureOurWorld

Get ready for a spooktacular evening at the 2024 Night of Cyber on October 30th! Join us for a frightfully fun night filled with FREE food, drinks, and ghoulishly good prizes! Don’t miss out on the chance to connect, learn, and celebrate cybersecurity in style. More info at: https://lnkd.in/dNMyPttx @uwf #NightOfCyber #ChooseCyber #CybersecurityCareerWeek #UWFCyber

Wondering where to get started in your Cybersecurity journey? Many participate in workshops, online courses, or webinars to gain knowledge about cybersecurity best practices. Lucky for you, UWF has the Cyberskills2Work Program, Night of Cyber, which is one of our biggest events coming up in just a few days, as well as many other programs to get you started. Make sure to plug into your local Cybersecurity programs and learn how to become Cybersafe for yourself and your community! #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #cybersecurityawareness #UWFCyber #SecureOurWorld

I would like to thank Shankar Banik and Malory Saunders-Gooding for hosting an incredible event. I was fortunate to attend the Critical infrastructure Hands-on Access control Research and Internet of Things workshop at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. I loaded pages and pages of notes from the presentations. I noted ideas to use in our classes, ideas for research, and resources to share with my learners. Events like this take place a few times a year at various spots around the globe. Each one has their own specific flavor, but they all have the same goal: securing cyberspace and the data and devices that make it up. We need more events like this where people are sharing and learning with each other. I heard the same thing today that I hear at every event like this: “We need everyone to understand how all our data is connected.” We are never going to get there if the vast majority of people only receive cybersecurity training once a year and it is the bare minimum requirement for compliance. Our goal with training should be competence, not compliance. We are not building a community approach to securing our data and devices with occasional, mandatory training that is seen as boring. True cybersecurity awareness will come when everyone understands how their actions directly determine if someone else’s data is exposed. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #31DaysofCybersecurityAwareness

I was honored to give the keynote talk at ICAMAC2024 - the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Metaverse, and Cybersecurity. I highlighted how we can leverage #ArtificialIntelligence and #MachineLearning to enhance #cybersecurity and #criticalinfrastructure #security and how academia and educators can prepare an #AI-enabled #workforce. Thank you to the Rochester Institute of Technology, Dubai (RIT Dubai) for hosting a great conference and inviting me to speak, especially Dr. Yousef M. Al-Assaf and Dr. Kevser Ovaz Akpinar, Ph.D., for their outstanding leadership and warm hospitality. I got to network and discuss collaboration opportunities with so many colleagues from across the globe and enjoyed the discussions and tough questions from their amazing students.