October is CyberSecurity Awareness Month in Hawaii
Posted on Oct 1, 2020 in News, Press ReleaseHONOLULU — Gov. David Ige has proclaimed October Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Hawaii in recognition of the state’s role in identifying, protecting its citizens from, and responding to cyber threats. The governor also marked the occasion by recognizing the state’s winners in the Girls Go CyberStart national competition, which is a fun, interactive online program composed of digital challenges aimed at introducing high school girls to cyber security and encouraging them to enter the field.
This year’s state winners are teams from Myron B. Thompson Academy, first place; Kalani High School, second place; and a three-way tie between Sacred Hearts Academy, Keaau High School and St. Andrews Schools.***+
There were 269 teams and 240 individual girls that showed up to give it their best. Hawaii is the only state that had a tie – the three teams reached their scores within minutes of each other so Girls Go CyberStart decided to reward all three!
“Despite the challenges COVID-19 has posed — the young women who entered the competition were able to demonstrate their resilience and represent Hawaii well. I am proud of these young women, and will continue to support and inspire more of Hawaii’s youth to explore potential careers in cyber security,” said Gov. David Ige.
The State continues its work on several cyber security initiatives, such as promoting educational opportunities like Girls Go CyberStart and developing a skilled cyber workforce by working with lower and higher education communities. It is also working to enhance the cyber security of critical infrastructure providers. Additionally, the State is continuing its work in improving coordination of county, city, state and federal government cyber security activities, leveraging the Fusion Center’s role in working with private sector partners to improve their cyber security posture.
“We continuously work to strengthen our cybersecurity efforts with best practices and tools to safeguard our infrastructure. We also work with our employees to increase their cyber knowledge through trainings,” said Vincent Hoang, State Chief Information Security Officer of the Office of Enterprise Technology Services.
ETS’ partners in the State Department of Defense and the University of Hawaii are also conducting various cyber security activities this month. For more information, visit https://dod.hawaii.gov/ohs/cyber and https://www.hawaii.edu/infosec/.
In honor of cybersecurity month, students are encouraged to enter a national art contest sponsored by MS-ISAC. Students grades K-12 from across the country submit pieces of artwork that cover topics such as being safe online, good online security practices, cyber bullying, and how to be a good digital citizen. Public, private, and homeschooled students in grades K-12 are all invited to participate!
The contest is underway and ends on January 22, 2021. The winners of the contest will be recognized nationally in acknowledgment of National October Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in 2021.
For more information regarding the contest and other ways to participate in NCSAM (such as the Best of the Web Contest), please visit https://www.cisecurity.org/ms-isac/ms-isac-toolkit/.
For any questions and submissions about the contest, email [email protected]. All submissions must be sent as a scanned image.
**Girls Go CyberStart 2021 Winners and Finalist Ranking
+Prizes for Top scoring teams in each State:
1st prize = $100 per team member and $100 for their school
2nd prize = $75 per team member and $100 for their school|
3rd prize = $50 per team member and $100 for their school
To learn more about the State’s cybersecurity program, visit https://ets.hawaii.gov/state-of-hawaii-cyber-security-program/.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Hawaii coincides with the national observance, recognized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (www.dhs.gov/cyber), the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (www.cisecurity.org/ms-isac), and industry partners which collectively encourage all citizens to learn about cybersecurity to put that knowledge into practice in their homes, schools, workplaces, and businesses.