Why is Halloween mentioned in the same breath as cybersecurity?

It’s that time of the year again when you sport your favorite ghoulish costume, carve pumpkins, gear up for trick-or-treating, and reread Gothic stories. It’s Halloween!

There is no denying that October is all about ghosts and ghouls, tricks and treats, witches and wizards, pirates and pumpkins. However, October is also Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a time to remember that alongside our cogent fears lies another reality that’s much more ghastly — cyberattacks.

The cybercrime epidemic has hit the world so hard that most people are already victims of data theft, with at least some of their personal information up for sale on the dark web. Even though the threat of cybercrime is real, we cannot allow ourselves to be lulled into a sense of inevitability. This Halloween, let us march towards being more cyberaware by taking a look at the most common cyberattacks of 2019.