Colorado Office of Information Technology
10/02/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/02/2025 11:56
Governor Polis Proclaims October 2025 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month “Stay Safe Online”
Governor Polis Proclaims October 2025 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month "Stay Safe Online"
Thursday, October 2, 2025
DENVER, Oct. 2 - Colorado Governor Jared Polis has proclaimed October 2025 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, joining a national effort to promote online safety and the critical role it plays in protecting families, businesses and communities. In a video announcement, the Governor urges Coloradans to take proactive steps-such as strengthening passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication and staying alert to scams-to safeguard their digital information against growing cyber threats.
According to the FBI, Colorado residents lost more than $243 million to cyber and online scams last year, an increase of almost $56 million from the prior year. In 2024, the costliest schemes reported in Colorado were investment fraud ($90 million), business email compromise ($48 million) and personal data breaches ($23 million).
"Just like physical security entails shutting and locking doors, cybersecurity requires us as individuals to take basic actions to protect from online threats," says Jill Fraser, Chief Information Security Officer at OIT. "Small actions can make a big difference, such as using unique passwords-especially for important accounts like banking and benefits, enabling multi-factor authentication and being cautious with emails that contain links and attachments."
The 22nd annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme is Stay Safe Online, which encourages individuals to take four proactive steps each day to ensure their online safety:
Protect your accounts by choosing unique passwords or passphrases and keeping them different for each login.
Activate multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your devices.
Stay vigilant against phishing, one of today's most frequently used cyberattack techniques, and report any suspicious activity.
Install updates as soon as they are available and enable automatic updates whenever possible. This will not only deliver new features but-more importantly-fix security vulnerabilities that attackers actively seek to exploit.
Throughout Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT) will share tips on its website and through social media to help Coloradans protect their digital information year-round. By staying informed and following security best practices, everyone can help safeguard both personal and professional data from cyber threats.
Follow OIT on LinkedIn to learn how to reduce cybersecurity risks. For more tips and facts on how to stay safe online at work, home, school and on the go, explore these Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency resources.
Colorado Office of Information Technology published this content on October 02, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 02, 2025 at 17:56 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]