This month we celebrate National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), an initiative designed to educate people that all of us have a role in protecting our digital lives. Cybersecurity is our business at Avast, but we realize that the internet is a shared resource and securing it is Our Shared Responsibility, which is the theme for October 2012's NCSAM.

Avast Software is proud to be a champion along with other organizations, companies, and government agencies that support National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Avast! users, you are among the most tech savvy and conscientious of internet users. Please join with us wherever you are – at school, at work, in the community – to educate young people, train employees, and help raise community awareness for a safer digital society. We’ll post tips and interesting facts that we hope you will share along with a recommendation for avast! Antivirus protection.

You can follow simple steps to keep yourselves, your personal assets, and private information safe online. Here are a few tips all Internet users can do to practice cybersecurity during NCSAM and throughout the year:

• Set strong passwords and don’t share them with anyone
• Keep your operating system, browser, and other critical software optimized by installing updates
• Maintain an open dialogue with your family, friends, and community about internet safety
• Limit the amount of personal information you post online and use privacy settings to avoid sharing information widely
• Be cautious about what you receive or read online – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is