R 052030Z OCT 21
MARADMIN 531/21
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC DCI IC4 WASHINGTON DC//
SUBJ/OCTOBER 2021 - CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH OBSERVANCE//
POC/R. STATEN/CIV/UNIT: HQMC DCI IC4 ICC/CYBERSECURITY/TEL: 571-256-8875/EMAIL: RODDY.STATEN@USMC.MIL//
POC/R. A. LETTEER/CIV/UNIT: HQMC DCI IC4/ICC/CYBERSECURITY/TEL: 703-693-3490/EMAIL: RAY.LETTEER@USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  Cybersecurity is a Marine Corps priority and this month presents an opportunity for all personnel to access resources online to better equip themselves against the hazards posed by cyber threat actors with malicious intent.  Safeguarding and increasing the resiliency of an ever expanding array of information technologies, at work and at home, is a vast undertaking that requires a whole of force effort.  Make your actions count!  
2.  Our adversaries are online every day seeking to exploit vulnerabilities that provide them advantage in the information environment.  The network is vital to our ability to compete in the information environment, and as part of Force Design 2030, we are modernizing its capabilities to deliver greater advantage.  The Marine Corps team is online every day, using formidable cyber forces and advanced technologies to defend against an unrelenting cascade of potential cyber threats.  However, given the magnitude of the problem we face, even more is required.  Through individual action online, every member of the Marine Corps team can contribute to the fight. 
3.  Raising Marine Corps wide cybersecurity awareness and improving workforce cyber knowledge, skills and abilities can help ensure that user actions support – rather than diminish – implemented threat protections.  Users who know and understand the cybersecurity actions expected of them are prepared and their behavior online provides key advantage to our defenses against malicious activity.  Individual actions matter, and what each member of the Marine Corps team does online can either support or detract from efforts by our cyber professionals in the fight every day.
4.  This year’s 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness Month overall theme is “Do your part.  Be Cyber Smart.”  Take time during October to visit Marine Corps and other official government media channels to view cybersecurity campaign content to improve your knowledge, skills and abilities on topics relevant to your information technology use – at work and at home.  Campaign content will highlight a different theme each week: 
a.  Week One:  You + the threat to OPSEC.
b.  Week Two:  You + the threat in the office.
c.  Week Three:  You + the threat outside the office.
d.  Week Four:  The threat beyond you. Go to the Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency website (https:(slash)(slash)www.cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month)for access to a wide range of cybersecurity awareness resources launched in observance of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  Go to the Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group, Defensive Cyberspace Operations webpage (https:(slash)(slash)homeport.usmc.mil/SUPPORT/MCCOG/SitePages/DCO.aspx) for guidance on reporting suspicious network activity (Common Access Card required).  
5.  As the Marine Corps and our Nation’s investment in information technologies builds competitive advantage, only a whole of force cybersecurity effort is capable of protecting that advantage.  Adding the support of hundreds of thousands of cybersecurity-aware users to a network cybersecurity defense makes it more capable than ever before of impeding threats that may compromise our investments and abilities.  The Marine Corps appreciates your commitment and dedication to improving your cybersecurity readiness.  Your knowledge and actions online, whether at work or at home have never been more vital to mission success.   
6.  Release authorized by BGen J. A. Matos, Director, Information C4 Division, Deputy Commandant for Information.//