WHEREAS, the State of Maine, Office of Information Technology maintains a high priority on identifying, protecting and responding to cybersecurity threats to the State’s information systems and data that can have a significant impact on our individual and collective safety and privacy; and

WHEREAS, technology plays an increasingly significant role in many aspects of our daily lives and provides crucial support for critical infrastructure sectors, such that the rise in malicious cyber-attacks, ransomware and other cyber crimes across the United States have a serious impact on our national security and economy; and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine has taken important steps to build a more secure cyber ecosystem by funding initiatives through annual budgets, Coronavirus Relief Funds and the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan that will strengthen business continuity and disaster recovery planning efforts, leveraging historic federal funds for Maine from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to heighten our defenses against cyber-attacks at the state and local level, and appointing members to the Maine Cybersecurity Advisory Council established to enhance our State’s cyber planning, response, and recovery efforts across all levels of government; and

WHEREAS, each October, STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ serves as the national cybersecurity public awareness campaign, working to educate individuals and organizations on basic cybersecurity tips every computer user should adopt to improve their overall cybersecurity, such as enabling multi-factor authentication, using strong passwords, recognizing and reporting phishing, and updating software; and

WHEREAS, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is recognized by the United States Federal Government, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, and the National Cyber Security Alliance; and

WHEREAS, all citizens are encouraged to visit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency website, www.cisa.gov, and the STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ website, www.stopthinkconnect.org, to learn more about cybersecurity and simple action steps they can take to be safe online;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the great state of Maine, do hereby proclaim October 2022 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Maine, and I urge all citizens to learn more about cybersecurity and take action to protect their security and privacy online.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this third day of October Two Thousand Twenty-Two