Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026
Resilient Together
The 2026 UC Cybersecurity Awareness Month (UC CAM) theme is Resilient Together. This year's theme emphasizes how we are stronger when we stand together. Cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility. When everyone does their part, our whole UC community is better protected.
How to Get Involved
There are several ways to get involved during Cybersecurity Awareness Month at UC:
- Contact your campus’ IT Security Office to learn what you can do to promote a safer, more secure and more trusted environment.
- Check out our calendar below for Systemwide events you can attend.
- Check your Location’s Information Security website for location-specific events and activities.
- Download your 2026 CAM Zoom background with your location's logo.
Visit UC location websites to learn more about their Information Security programs: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Davis Health, UC Irvine, UC Irvine Health, UCLA, UCLA Health, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Riverside-School of Medicine, UC San Diego, UC San Diego Health, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
UC Cybersecurity Summit
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 / 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 / 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Speakers:
- Caitlin Sarian (aka Cybersecurity Girl) - World's Largest Cybersecurity Educator and Influencer
- Alex Stamos – Chief Security Officer, Corridor / Stanford lecturer / Prior Chief Security Officer at Facebook and Yahoo
- Dr. Safiya Noble – David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Professor of Gender Studies, African American Studies and Information Studies, and Director, UCLA DataX-Data Justices - in conversation with Ronise Zenon, Information Systems Analyst, Information Technology Services department, UCSD
- Kerry Tomlinson – Cyber News Reporter, Ampyx News
- Marti DeLiema – Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
- Melonie White – Digital Risk Governance, Analytics, and Advisory Services Manager, UC Office of the President
- Caesar Sedek – Assistant Chief Information Security Officer, UCLA
Hosted by UC Office of the President
Zoom has known calendar issues with multi-day events. Please verify that your calendar invite is for both October 6 & 7. If not, add it manually.
Note: The Summit is only for those at the University of California, California State University, California community colleges, and invited guests. If you aren’t a part of this community, your registration will require an exception approval. Email uccybersummit@ucop.edu for help.
AI Vulnerability Scanning in the Age of Mythos
Thursday, October 8, 2026 / 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Speaker: Chris Kruegel, Computer Science Professor
Hosted by UC Santa Barbara
Moderators:
- Roger Padilla, UC Santa Barbara
- Jackson Muhirwe, UC Santa Barbara
The Vibes Are Off: How to Safely Build Apps with AI Agents
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 / 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Speaker: Michael Taggart, Senior Cybersecurity Researcher/Senior Mayhem Creator
Hosted by UCLA Health
Moderator: Andrea McColl, UCLA Health
Mental Malware: Why the Human OS Keeps Getting Hacked
Thursday, October 15, 2026 / 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Speaker: Randy Rose, Center for Internet Security Representative and Vice President of Security Operations & Intelligence
Hosted by UC Irvine
Moderator: Hillary Chansavang, UC Irvine
Social engineering works because it targets what makes us human: our biases, cognitive shortcuts, emotions, and deeply wired instinct to trust. Attackers are adept at exploiting these key features of the human operating system. Drawing on famous studies from the field of psychology, this session unpacks the brain's architecture that makes manipulation possible and disturbingly effective. We'll also examine how generative AI is raising the stakes, making it harder than ever to differentiate what's real and what's not.
Randy Rose has over two decades of experience across state, local, and federal government. He currently leads Security Operations at the Center for Internet Security, where he is privileged to oversee the execution of the Security Operations Center, Cyber Threat Intelligence, Multidimensional Threat Intelligence, Cyber Incident Response, and Red Team missions in direct support of the Multi-State ISAC. Previously, he led the largest Joint Military Security Operations Center in Europe and the Intelligence Department for the Navy's Global Cyber Operations Task Force.
From Extortion to Espionage: The Frontline Threat Landscape for Higher Education
Thursday, October 15, 2026 / 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Speaker: Jeremy Rosado, Senior Intelligence Analyst
Hosted by UC Santa Barbara
Moderators:
- Jackson Muhirwe, UC Santa Barbara
- Roger Padilla, UC Santa Barbara
Should I Put That into ChatGPT? Protecting UCSF Data When Using AI
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 / 10:00 - 11:00 AM
Speaker: Mary Morshed, Data Security Compliance Director, UC San Francisco
Hosted by UC San Francisco
Moderator: Emmanuel Arinze, UC San Francisco
AI and Privacy
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 / 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Speaker: Reema Moussa, Goodwin Procter Associate
Hosted by UC Santa Barbara
Moderators:
- Roger Padilla, UC Santa Barbara
- Jackson Muhirwe, UC Santa Barbara
AI, Deepfakes & Social Engineering
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 / 10:00 - 11:00 AM
Speaker: Ben Syn, Director, University and Career Education, KnowBe4
Hosted by UC San Francisco
Moderator: Emmanuel Arinze, UC San Francisco
Secure UC Santa Barbara
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 / 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Speakers:
- Jackson Muhirwe, UC Santa Barbara
- Jennifer Mehl, UC Santa Barbara
Hosted by UC Santa Barbara
Moderator: Roger Padilla, UC Santa Barbara
Note: This webinar is for UC Santa Barbara faculty only.
Registration details coming soon.
Public Interest Cybersecurity: How Cal Researchers Defend Nonprofits, Schools, and Cities from Digital Threats
Thursday, October 29, 2026 / 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Speaker: Sarah Powazek, Director, Program Director - Public Interest Cybersecurity, UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity
Hosted by UC Berkeley
Moderator: Casey Hennig, UC Berkeley
Who gets left behind when federal resources focus only on "national security threats"? Join this talk by Sarah Powazek, Director of Public Interest Cybersecurity at the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, to learn more about how Cal researchers are shaping the national conversation about "critical infrastructure." Sarah will share more about cutting-edge survey research on nonprofits and international coalition-building efforts to provide a safety net of digital defenses to all organizations regardless of the size of their technology budget. She will also highlight key market failures that the team is investigating, innovative solutions like cybersecurity clinics and student / regional SOCs, and other ways academia, industry, government, and nonprofits are joining forces to provide defenses in the face of rapidly growing digital threats.
Sarah Powazek is the Program Director of Public Interest Cybersecurity at the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC), where she leads flagship research on defending low-resource organizations like nonprofits, municipalities, and schools from cyber attacks. She serves as Co-Chair of the Cyber Resilience Corps and is also Senior Advisor for the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics, advocating for the expansion of clinical cyber education around the world. Sarah hosts the Cyber Civil Defense Summit, an annual mission-based gathering of cyber defenders to protect the nation’s most vulnerable public infrastructure. Sarah previously worked at CrowdStrike Strategic Advisory Services, and as the Program Manager of the Ransomware Task Force.
The Reason for the Rules: Keeping Us Cyber Safe
Thursday, October 29, 2026 / 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Speaker: Andrea McColl
Hosted by UCLA Health
Moderator: Andrea McColl, UCLA Health
Join us to demystify the controls that protect UCLA Health systems and data, including EDR, encryption and updates.
Note: This webinar is for UCLA Health faculty only.
Registration details coming soon.
ClickFix: Turning User Trust Into Code Execution
Thursday, October 29, 2026 / 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Speakers: UCI’s cybersecurity club, Cyber@UCI
Hosted by UC Irvine
Moderator: Benny Angeles, UC Irvine