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NEW YORK---National Cyber Security Awareness Month is being recognized in October in New York State with a number of initiatives underway.
National Cyber Security Awareness Month, first established in October 2004, is a collective effort to raise cyber security awareness nationwide and to empower citizens, businesses, government, and schools to improve their cyber security preparedness and ensure a safe Internet experience.
New York State is partnering with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance in supporting and promoting National Cyber Security Awareness Month.
Governor Pataki has signed a proclamation recognizing October as Cyber Security Awareness Month. ("Cyber Security Awareness Month" hyperlink is: http://www.cscic.state.ny.us/cscorner/proclamation/2006.)
As a key initiative in the celebration of Cyber Security Awareness Month, Gov. Geroge Pataki, with the Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination, is also hosting the Second Annual Cyber Security Awareness Conference: Kids Safe Online, on Oct. 4 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The goal of this event is to reach as many educators, parents, and students as possible to help educate them about keeping our children safe online. More than 1,000 students, parents, teachers and others attended the conference last year.
The conference features a keynote by Chris Hansen, Correspondent, "Dateline NBC." His investigative series, "To Catch a Predator" has had a tremendous positive impact in raising awareness and changing behaviors to help better protect our children.
Other highlights of the program include a special presentation by Justin Berry, a young adult who experienced first-hand the dangerous side of the online world; a compelling, live chat-room demonstration; and a discussion of the Project Safe Childhood program. The conference also features a series of hands-on workshops for adults focused on a variety of computer and online safety issues.
"Computers and the Internet play an important role in our children's lives, both at home and in school. While there are many benefits to being online, we must be aware of the potential risks-and know what to do about them. This conference provides the knowledge to help parents, teachers, guardians and other adults make informed decisions about online activities to help keep our children safe," Governor Pataki said.
As part of the conference, New York State is sponsoring a cyber security poster art contest, open to all New York State students in the fourth and fifth grades. The winning posters will be featured in an upcoming calendar to be distributed nationally. The winning posters will be announced at the conference.
For more information about the Oct. 4 conference, including registration, please visit: http://www.cybersafeny.org.
The conference features a special program for children - a play entitled Cyber Citizens of the World Wide Web, geared toward the fourth and fifth grade age levels, in which actors will perform a cyber security-related skit and kids will be able to interact. The play will use content from i-SAFE, an organization dedicated to teaching secure, responsible and effective Internet and computer use, and acted out with members of Plays for Living, a nonprofit organization that utilizes live theatre drama to depict real-life challenges.
The play will be an entertaining and informative way for children to learn more about good cyber security practices and how to be safe in cyberspace. The play will also be broadcast live via satellite and the Internet-and rebroadcast throughout the day in different time zones--as part of a national and international webcast, with thousands of school children across the state, the nation and the world participating. Last year's play was broadcast to approximately 5,000 teachers, parents, students and others across the nation and around the world.
For more information about the October 4 webcast, including registration, please visit: http://www.msisac.org.
New York State also coordinates the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) a voluntary organization comprising all 50 states and the District of Columbia, focused on sharing important cyber security information and helping to enhance the cyber security readiness of each state and with local governments. The MS-ISAC acts as a resource for gathering information from the federal government and other states on cyber threats to critical infrastructure and provides two-way sharing of information between and among the states and with local governments.
As part of the National Cyber Security Awareness Campaign, New York State, as chair of the MS-ISAC, developed and distributed to all states a Cyber Security Toolkit.
"The goal of the Toolkit is to provide a comprehensive and consistent cyber security awareness message throughout the nation," said William Pelgrin, director of the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination and Chair of the MS-ISAC. "Through Governor Pataki's leadership, New York State has been at the fore in cyber security. Our collaboration with others-both in the public and private sector-is helping to strengthen our cyber security posture in New York and across the nation."
Principal deliverables in the Toolkit include: Cyber Security Awareness Posters, Calendars and Mousepads, a Cyber Security "Getting Started" Guide for local governments, as well as archived National Webcast Initiative Broadcasts. States are encouraged to widely distribute this information.
More information and Toolkit material for the public is available online at http://www.msisac.org/awareness/oct06/index.cfm. 9-27-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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