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Cyber Security Awareness Month Don't Let One Click Sink Your Semester

CyberSmart

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In October, the University of South Alabama Office of Information Security (InfoSec) will recognize and participate in National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). NCSAM is an annual event during which the cybersecurity professional community comes together to focus on cybersecurity, and encourage others to exercise proper cyber hygiene. The US Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance have sponsored NCSAM since its inception in 2004.

From mobile to connected home devices, technology is becoming more intertwined with our lives every day. While the evolution of technology is moving at the speed of sound, cybercriminals are working just as hard to find ways to compromise technology and disrupt personal and business life. Cybersecurity Awareness Month aims to highlight some of the emerging challenges that exist in the world of cybersecurity today, and to provide straightforward actionable guidance that anyone can follow to create a safe and secure digital world for themselves and their loved ones.

For 2026, USA InfoSec will focus on financial scams tailored to exploit tight budgets and busy academic schedules. Cybercriminals frequently target students with deceptive scams, such as fake job offers requiring upfront fees, fraudulent scholarship schemes designed to steal banking info, and peer-to-peer payment traps for discounted tuition or housing.

Protecting your finances starts with phishing awareness and spotting red flags: watch for deceptive emails or messages, never deposit checks from unknown senders, avoid purchasing gift cards or wiring money for unverified employers, and never share login credentials, PINs, or Social Security numbers via email or text.

Safeguard your identity by navigating directly to official school and banking portals rather than clicking unsolicited links, turning on multi-factor authentication across all accounts, and reporting suspicious communications immediately to your campus IT contact.

On the following dates, the InfoSec team will be at the listed locations from 11am - 1pm, handing out free t-shirts and encouraging students and employees to enable MFA for all their online accounts.

For more information about Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026, visit https://www.southalabama.edu/cybersmart. You can also follow and use the official hashtag #BeCyberSmart on social media throughout the month.

Time It Takes a Hacker to Brute Force Your Password in 2026
Hardware: 16 x RTX 5090 | Password Hash: bcrypt(10)

Number of Characters Numbers Only Lowercase Letters Upper and Lower Case Letters Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters, Symbols
4 Instantly Instantly Instantly Instantly Instantly
5 Instantly Instantly 46 minutes 2 hours 3 hours
6 Instantly 37 minutes 2 days 5 Days 1 week
7 Instantly 16 hours 3 months 10 Months 2 years
8 Instantly 2 weeks 12 years 50 years 132 years
9 2 hours 1 year 636 years 3k years 9k years
10 20 hours 32 years 33k years 191k years 645k years
11 1 week 839 years 1m years 11m years 45m years
12 3 months 21k years 89m years 737m years 3bn years
13 2 years 567k years 4bn years 45bn years 221bn years
14 23 years 14m years 241bn years 2tn years 15tn years
15 229 years 383m years 12tn years 175tn years 1qd years
16 2k years 9bn years 653tn years 10qd years 75qd years
17 22k years 259bn years 33qd years 675qd years 5qn years
18 228k years 6tn years 1qn years 41qn years 372qn years