October Launches Cybersecurity Month in the United States and Europe With a Call for a Safer Online World

CISA and ENISA invite the public to take part, as official figures show the cost of online fraud in every region of the world.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- October has opened two public campaigns that invite everyone to take part in a safer online world. In the United States, Cybersecurity Awareness Month opened its 23rd year, led by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance. In Europe, European Cybersecurity Month, first run in 2012, is driven by EU Member States and organisations across Europe with the support of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the European Commission, under the motto "Think Before U Click".

This year ENISA has turned the European campaign towards the workplace. In a European Commission Eurobarometer survey that ENISA cites, 74 per cent of employees had received suspicious emails, texts, voice messages or links at work, and 39 per cent phishing or fraudulent emails. Only 45 per cent said their organisation sends regular cybersecurity updates, and 85 per cent want to improve their skills.

"Cyber threats are getting faster and smarter," CISA says. "But we can fight back." Its four core steps are to avoid and report phishing scams, use strong passwords, use multifactor authentication and a password manager, and update software.

Both campaigns ask for action at a time when many people feel resigned. The National Cybersecurity Alliance's Oh Behave! research with CybSafe found that 31 per cent of adults surveyed in 2025 believe losing money online is unavoidable, up from 25 per cent in 2022. In its latest edition, 43 per cent of workers said they had shared sensitive work information with AI tools without their employer's knowledge.

The Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates that US$442 billion was lost to fraud worldwide in the year to March 2025. Official figures by region:

- Africa: INTERPOL found artificial intelligence enabling 55 per cent of reported cybercrimes across 36 countries, with losses of US$484 million in 2025, up from US$192 million in 2024.
- Asia: Singapore's police recorded S$913.1 million in fraud losses in 2025, down 17.9 per cent on 2024.
- Australia: the National Anti-Scam Centre reports A$2.18 billion in reported losses in 2025, up 7.8 per cent.
- Europe: the European Banking Authority and European Central Bank report €4.2 billion in payment fraud across the European Economic Area in 2024. UK - Finance reports £1.28 billion stolen through payment fraud in the United Kingdom in 2025.
- Latin America: the Brazilian Forum on Public Security counted 2,261,055 recorded fraud cases in Brazil in 2025.
- North America: the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded US$20.9 billion in reported losses in 2025, including US$7.7 billion from people over 60, up 59 per cent. Canada's Anti-Fraud Centre recorded more than C$704 million.

Answering the calls from CISA and ENISA, UtilForge has made a set of online safety tools free to the public worldwide, starting with phishing and online fraud. Before You Pay checks a payment request before money is sent. Subscription Check finds every repeating payment in a person's own bank statement. Cancel and Keep Proof writes the cancellation message and keeps a dated record. Hide Names From AI swaps names and numbers for labels, so staff can use any AI tool on a real case without handing over anyone's details.

The tools need no account, and nothing typed into them is sent or saved. Each check keeps working with the wifi switched off, which shows nothing is leaving the device.

An official help page links to guidance from CISA and ENISA and to official reporting bodies in 20 countries and territories. Official guidance encourages anyone affected to contact their bank.

"CISA and ENISA have both invited the public to take part, and the first step happens in an ordinary moment, when a payment request or a message arrives," said a UtilForge spokesperson. "Free checks on a person's own device put that step within reach of anyone with a phone or computer, in any country."

UtilForge builds privacy-first tools that run on the user's own device, helping people and organisations check payments, subscriptions, documents and AI use before they act.

UtilForge is an official 2026 Champion of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a programme of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, and takes part in European Cybersecurity Month independently.

LINDSAY MCDONALD
Invictus Communications
lindsay@invictuscomm.com