WASHINGTON, D.C. (WDNews) – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced Monday the official start of Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2025.
This year’s campaign, themed Building a Cyber Strong America, is designed to give government agencies and private sector partners the tools and support needed to secure essential services such as water, power, communications, food, and finance.
“Cybersecurity is a critical theater in defending our homeland,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “Every day, bad actors are trying to steal information, sabotage critical infrastructure, and use cyberspace to exploit American citizens. Taking down these threats requires a strong private-public partnership, and the reforms we’ve implemented at CISA have empowered them to work with all of our partners to take down these threats and make America cyber secure again. This Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the time for us to continue our efforts to build a cyber strong America.”
The campaign calls on state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as small and medium businesses and supply chain operators, to take proactive steps to protect their networks.
“Critical infrastructure – whether in the hands of state and local entities, private businesses, or supply chain partners – is the backbone of our daily lives,” said Acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala. “Whenever it’s disrupted, the effects ripple through communities across America. That’s why this year CISA is prioritizing the security and resilience of small and medium businesses, and state, local, tribal, and territorial government (SLTT) that facilitate the systems and services sustain us every day. This includes things like clean water, secure transportation, quality healthcare, secure financial transactions, rapid communications, and more. Together, we must make resilience routine so America stays safe, strong, and secure.”
DHS and CISA highlighted several key practices for individuals and organizations to follow: recognize and report phishing attempts, require strong passwords, turn on multifactor authentication, and update software regularly. Organizations are also urged to enable system logging, back up data, and encrypt sensitive information to strengthen defenses.
CISA officials said cyber threats never take a day off, and called on all sectors of the nation to join in the mission: Building a Cyber Strong America starts with you.
Resources, toolkits, and guidance are available at CISA.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month.
