October 17, 2025
The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) announced today that Governor Kathy Hochul has issued a proclamation designating October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month in the State of New York. This proclamation recognizes how crucial information systems and technology are to the state and federal government infrastructure. The proclamation reinforces our shared responsibility to keep the personal and business data, and networks, of our residents, businesses and visitors to New York safe from the ever-evolving danger of cyber incidents.
The theme for this year’s annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month is "Stay Safe Online" and focuses on four key behaviors:
- The use of strong passwords.
- Using multifactor authentication (MFA).
- Updating software.
- Recognition of and reporting of phishing attempts.
NYS Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office of Information Technology Services Dru Rai said, “Awareness and education continue to be our very best defense against cyber threat actors and the damage they can incur on our systems and data. To protect yourself and others, keep strong cybersecurity habits top of mind at all times.”
The proclamation follows Governor Hochul’s:
- Recent announcement of the availability of New York State Cybersecurity Grants, which makes nearly $13.9 Million in federal funding available to help local entities reduce cyber risk and build the cyber resiliency of all New Yorkers.
- Signing earlier this year of significant legislation to expedite cyber and ransomware incident reporting, and to require annual cybersecurity training by all state, local and county employees, as well as significant measures to expand the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) by New York State agencies, and to prevent the use of deceptive AI-generated media.
To support cybersecurity education across our state, the ITS Chief Information Security Office (CISO) coordinates an annual statewide cybersecurity poster contest for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, a timely opportunity for teachers to focus on keeping children safe online in a fun and informative way. Submissions are due on December 19, 2025. Winners will be featured on the ITS website.
Additionally, the agency provides free resources to the public, including the Cybersecurity Awareness Toolkit, which includes cybersecurity-themed resources that can be shared to help promote and reinforce cyber safety themes in practical, informative and entertaining ways.