Bitwarden Launches the Hacker’s Guide to Securing Your Organization for Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023

White hat hacker Rachel Tobac exposes today’s most prevalent cybersecurity threats and shares actionable steps businesses and employees can take to stay protected

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bitwarden, the credential management leader, today announced its commitment to cybersecurity education with a comprehensive hacker’s guide to staying safe online and by participating in the 20^th Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Founded in 2004 and held every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a collaborative effort among businesses, government agencies, tribal communities, and individuals to promote cybersecurity awareness and best practices for online safety.

Get the Hacker’s guide to securing your organization

To elevate the key themes of this month, Bitwarden partnered with ethical hacker, Rachel Tobac to create a detailed guide to securing your organization from cyber criminals. In this ebook, Tobac breaks down the common techniques hackers use to infiltrate accounts - and how you can guard against them.

“Technology moves fast. And so do hackers,” said Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security, “But, you know what doesn’t move fast? Human habits. Our brains are wired to fall for the same scams we’ve been falling for since the dawn of time. Even now, people and companies get hacked in the same ways - over, and over, and over. But it doesn’t have to be that way!”

Tobac suggests the following steps individuals and organizations can take to minimize cybersecurity risks:

“First, familiarize yourself and your team with the principles of persuasion we use while hacking so you can recognize and shut down the social engineers. Next, arm yourself and your organization with the right technology - password managers (or passkey managers), and the right multi-factor authentication for your threat model. Finally, because technology is moving so fast, you can future-proof your security by understanding the risks that are coming next, and the tools you can use to defend against these new threats.”

Starting this year, the new theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is “Secure our World,” which draws parallels to the actionable measures provided in Rachel Tobac’s ebook, focusing on:

• Understanding the benefits of using a password manager and dispelling existing myths around password manager security and ease of use.
• Turning on multifactor authentication on personal devices and business networks.
• Recognizing and reporting phishing – still one of the primary threat actions used by cybercriminals today.
• Installing updates on a regular basis and turning on automated updates.

Becoming familiar with the common tactics hackers use and implementing simple yet robust security measures empowers anyone to increase their own security, or that of their team or company - all of which Tobac explores in depth in the Hacker’s guide to securing your organization.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month continues to build momentum and impact with the goal of providing everyone with the information they need to stay safer and more secure online. Bitwarden is proud to support this far-reaching online safety awareness and education initiative, which is co-managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Cybersecurity Alliance.

View the Hacker’s guide to securing your organization ebook by Rachel Tobac and Bitwarden.

For more information about Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023 and how to participate in a wide variety of activities, visit cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month and staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/. You can also follow and use the hashtags #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth and #SecureOurWorld on social media throughout the month.

About Bitwarden

Bitwarden empowers enterprises, developers, and individuals to safely store and share sensitive data. With a transparent, open source approach to password management, secrets management, and passwordless innovations, Bitwarden makes it easy for users to extend robust security practices to all of their online experiences. Founded in 2016, Bitwarden is supported by a passionate global community of security experts and enthusiasts. The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California and has a globally distributed team. Learn more at bitwarden.com.

About Rachel Tobac

Rachel is a hacker and the CEO of SocialProof Security where she helps people and companies keep their data safe by training and pentesting them on social engineering risks. Rachel was also 2nd place winner of DEF CON's wild spectator sport, the Social Engineering Capture the Flag contest, 3 years in a row. Rachel has shared her real life social engineering stories with NPR, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The New York Times, CNN, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, and many more. In her remaining spare time, Rachel is the Chair of the Board for the nonprofit Women in Security and Privacy (WISP) where she works to advance women to lead in the fields.

About Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is designed to engage and educate public- and private-sector partners through events and initiatives with the goal of raising awareness about cybersecurity to increase the resiliency of the nation in the event of a cyber incident. Since the Presidential proclamation establishing Cybersecurity Awareness Month in 2004, the initiative has been formally recognized by Congress, federal, state, and local governments and leaders from industry and academia. This united effort is necessary to maintain a cyberspace that is safer and more resilient and remains a source of tremendous opportunity and growth for years to come. For more information, visit cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month and staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/