South Raleigh News

Governor Roy Cooper has declared October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month in North Carolina, highlighting the critical importance of online safety, particularly following the significant impact of Hurricane Helene on the state. The hurricane's aftermath presents an opportunity for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerable individuals.

“Storms like Helene offer prime opportunities for cybercriminals looking to take advantage of others during a crisis situation when they may have their guard down,” Governor Cooper stated. He emphasized the need for vigilance among North Carolinians in safeguarding their personal information online.

Cybercriminals often impersonate disaster aid organizations or charities through phishing emails, social media messages, texts, and phone calls to extract personal and financial information. Residents are advised to be cautious with communications that contain hurricane-related subject lines, attachments, or hyperlinks.

Jim Weaver, N.C. Department of Information Technology Secretary and State Chief Information Officer, reinforced this message: “Our department continues to emphasize the importance of cybersecurity education and awareness. We are committed to ensuring that everyone can access the internet safely and guard against cyberthreats, which can happen to anyone at any time.”

The N.C. Department of Information Technology recommends several practices to enhance cybersecurity:

- Recognize and delete phishing attempts without clicking on suspicious links or attachments.

- Avoid sharing sensitive information like passwords or account numbers via email or text.

- Create strong passwords using random strings of mixed-case letters, numbers, and symbols.

- Enable multifactor authentication wherever possible.

- Keep software updated by installing updates promptly or enabling automatic updates.

In collaboration with state, local, and federal partners, NCDIT works to protect North Carolina’s government IT systems from cyber threats. Additionally, NCDIT’s Division of Broadband and Digital Equity has awarded $44 million in grants aimed at providing high-speed internet access across the state.

Throughout October, NCDIT will disseminate cybersecurity tips on social media using hashtags #SecureOurWorld and #CyberSecureNC. Further details on online safety can be found at it.nc.gov/CyberSecureNC.