Cybersecurity is a distinct challenge for every member. SAFER and Firestorm Global are committed to helping members mature their information security program through the SAFER Cyber Program.
2025 SAFER Cybersecurity Awareness Month Educational Grant Winners
Congratulations to Banta Unified School District, Butte College, Corona Norco Unified School District, Jurupa Unified School District, Lammersville Unified School District, Palo Verde College, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Scotia Union School District, Taft College, and Temecula Valley Unified School District for each winning a $2,500 educational grant!
We sincerely thank the districts listed below for their commitment and involvement. Their participation in the educational video and photo submissions was truly exceptional.
Banta Unified School District Butte College Cajon Valley Union School District Contra Costa County Office of Education Corona Norco Unified School District Cupertino Union School District Fowler Unified School District Happy Valley School District Humboldt County Office of Education Huntington Beach City School District Jurupa Unified School District Lammersville Unified School District Livingston Union School District Lompoc Unified School District Los Rios Community College District Mendocino County Office of Education Menifee Union School District Mountain House Elementary School District Mt. Diablo Unified School District Orinda Union School District Palo Verde College
Palomar College Perris Union High School District Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Rancho Santiago Community College District Redlands Unified School District San Benito County Office of Education San Joaquin County Office of Education San Ramon Valley Unified School District San Ysidro School District Santa Cruz City Schools Santa Cruz County Office of Education Savanna School District Scotia Union School District South Orange County Community College District Southern Humboldt Joint Unified School District Sylvan Union School District Temecula Valley Unified School District West Kern Community College District – Taft College William S. Hart Union High School District Yuba City Unified School District Office
Exciting Updates for Cyber Awareness Month 2025
We’re pleased to partner with you again for another impactful Cyber Awareness Month. This year, we’re bringing back the $2,500 educational grant, which will be awarded to ten districts—but with an exciting new twist!
🎟️ Introducing the Raffle Process 🎟️
Your district can now earn raffle entries for a chance to win! Here’s how:
📽️ Watch, Learn, and Upload a Photo
1 raffle entry for watching our short, informative video on cyber resilience (one submission per participant). After the video is complete, you will be prompted to enter your name, District name, and email address. This is how we will determine District winners, so do not skip this step.
📷 Show Your Support
Strike a pose, cyber-style! Snag a poster from our Cyber Awareness Kit below, print it out, then snap some epic shots—front view, side angle, even from below (get artsy!). Let your creativity run wild and earn yourself 25 raffle entries while you're at it. 📸✨
Spread the word throughout your district and encourage others to participate! The Cyber Awareness Month contest runs fromOctober 1 – October 31, 2025.
*Participation is limited to school districts only in California participating in an Keenan managed program. The $2,500 educational grant must be used for educational spending for the school district only and not for any booster, PTA, sport, or other extracurricular purpose. All video views, form submissions, raffle entries must be completed by October 31st, 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. Selected districts will be required to file a Form 801.
How to Promote Cyber Awareness Month at Your District
Help spread the word with our promo kit! The promo kit contains you can use to help spread the word about Cyber Awareness Month.
School districts jumped into action this Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Here are some inspiring ways they helped raise awareness.
Build A 24/7 Culture of Cybersecurity for your Organization
SAFER members have access to a wide variety of cyber risk management services to support their information security program and journey including assessments, training, coaching, vendor risk analysis, and more.
“Our experience working with Firestorm Global and the SAFER Cyber Risk Assessment has been excellent and truly focused on the realities of K-12... This work has been essential in helping us strengthen our security posture and protect our students and staff.”
Senior Director, IT | California K-12 District (SAFER Member)
Cybersecurity Awareness Month Speaker Request
Are you hosting a cybersecurity awareness event at your district? If you would like to request a guest speaker, please click the below link and a representative will be in touch. Speakers are limited.
SAFER members have access to a wide variety of cyber risk management services to support their information security program and journey including assessments, training, coaching, vendor risk analysis, and more.
SAFER Cyber Risk Assessment
SAFER members have access to a no-cost SAFER Cyber Risk Assessment powered by Firestorm Global and specifically designed to meet the unique needs of public education entities. Members have found this assessment to be a valuable service to help identify gaps, prioritize improvements and align all stakeholders.
Assessment Details
The assessment covers five core domains, twenty-five unique categories, and over one hundred twenty graded technical controls.
5 Domains
25 Categories
120+ Controls
The five core domains are captured as part of a proprietary framework known as STORM, which emphasizes the concepts of being able to sufficiently Protect, Detect and Correct against modern cyber threats while incorporating proper Strategy and Governance.
Additionally, all assessments incorporate an external risk analysis from the perspective of a threat actor’s viewpoint. The external risk analysis identifies common weaknesses such as:
“Partnering with Firestorm Global for our SAFER Cyber Risk Assessment was a game-changer. Their team brought clarity and confidence to our GLBA compliance efforts, delivering a thorough evaluation aligned with NIST 800-171 standards... Firestorm’s professionalism, responsiveness, and deep expertise made them an invaluable partner in strengthening our security posture.”
Chief Technology Officer | California Community College District (SAFER Member)
Additional SAFER Cyber Program Services
The below services are available to all members as part of the SAFER Cyber program to support the health of their information security posture.
vCISO Consultations Information Security advisory sessions designed to address challenging, complex, and emerging topics. Typically conducted in 30 or 60-minute increments.
Incident Response Plan Incident Response template and plan review customized to meet public education requirements and align to SAFER program process.
Tabletop Exercises (Virtual)
Remote-facilitated drills engaging crossfunctional or technical teams to simulate realistic attack scenarios.
Vendor Risk Assessment (Large)
Evaluation of vendor risk through external analysis and security questionnaire. Typically for purchases exceeding $250K.
RFP Review (Large)
Review RFP material and submissions for cybersecurity concerns and inclusion. Typically for purchases exceeding $250K.
Attack Surface Assessment
Discovers and reviews public-facing assets that threat actors could potentially exploit.
Dark Web Exposure Analysis Identifies compromised credentials found on the dark web that threat actors utilize to gain internal system access.
Web Application Scan
Testing of public facing institution-owned web applications for potential security concerns.
“Partnering with Firestorm Global has been immensely valuable. Their deep expertise in K–12 cybersecurity goes well beyond the standard assessments and evaluations typically offered by others in the field."
Chief Technology Officer | California K-12 District (SAFER Member)
Cyber Resilient Staff, Students and Stakeholders
The below services are available to all members as part of the SAFER Cyber program to support the health of their information security posture.
Cyber Awareness Toolkit 2025 Cyber Awareness Toolkit is coming soon. The 2024 toolkit is still accessible below.
Staff Cyber Resilience Executives and staff with elevated access are frequently targeted by adversaries. Live, interactive training is available to help key staff gain the knowledge needed to identify advanced social engineering.
Cybersecurity Roundtables Small group roundtables help business and technical staff alike gain important knowledge related to current trends and threats impacting districts.
Monthly Cybersecurity Bytes Cybersecurity Bytes are sent monthly to help provide ongoing education to all members.
“I enjoyed working with Firestorm Global as they were thorough. They guided us through the review process, answered our questions, and helped us build clear road map to strengthen our security posture.”
Chief Technology Officer | California Community College District (SAFER Member)
On-Demand Cybersecurity Webinars
Special Member Webinar: 24/7 Cyber Safe with CISA and Firestorm Global
This webinar features experts from CISA and Firestorm Global discussing key topics in cyber awareness for 2024. With human error responsible for 68% of data breaches last year, the session will focus on the critical role of human resilience in cybersecurity. Attendees will learn best practices, strategies to prevent social engineering, insights into AI threats like deepfakes, and how to effectively communicate cyber awareness to staff. This webinar is tailored for public education leaders and key personnel.
Empowering District and IT Leaders: Building a 24/7 Culture of Cyber Awareness
District and IT leaders are invited to a special webinar kicking off Cyber Awareness Month, where they will learn how to create a strong culture of cyber awareness for staff and students. Attendees will receive the 24/7 Cyber Awareness Resource Kit and hear from experts on topics such as human-targeted threats, building human firewalls, and leveraging SAFER Cyber Program resources. This session is designed to support education and technology leaders in building effective cybersecurity programs.
66% of Districts Do Not Have a Full-Time Cybersecurity Position
CoSN, 2023
Lack of Dedicated Staff #1 Cybersecurity Challenge for K-12
Clever, 2024
47% of Districts Report Lack of Cybersecurity Strategy as Top Concern
CIS NCSR, 2023
Average Public Education Ransomware Downtime Is 10.7 Days
Comparitech, 2024
SAFER Cyber Risk Assessment
The SAFER Cyber Risk Assessment is a complimentary cybersecurity assessment available to members to help baseline their current state maturity and develop a roadmap towards attainable improvement.
The assessment is aligned to NIST with tie back to CIS Top 18, CISA CPG and Cal- Secure. The engagement follows the Protect, Detect and Correct framework covering 5 core domains, 25 categories and ~100 topics.
The 2024 Cyber Awareness theme is 24/7 Cyber Safe with an emphasis on this statement: The Most Powerful Firewall in the World Is You.
According to a recent report, human error contributed to 68% of data breaches last year (Verizon DBIR, 2024). Modern threat actors are commonly targeting human psychology over technical vulnerability as the social engineering landscape is evolving through sequenced attacks across phone, email and text as well as the introduction of more sophisticated attacks using AI, such as Deepfakes.
The 24/7 Cyber Awareness program incorporates multiple elements including:
• Special Member Webinar with CISA and Firestorm Global • District and IT Leader Webinar for Creating a Culture of Awareness • 24/7 Cyber Awareness Resource Kit
The ‘24/7 Cyber Awareness Resource Kit features:
• Cyber Awareness Short Video (All Staff) • Cyber Awareness Infographics • Cyber Awareness Desktop Wallpapers • Cyber Awareness Presentation (for IT-delivered content) • Cyber Awareness Email for Staff • Cyber Awareness Email for Parents • Cyber Awareness Short Video (Students and Parents)
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Your efforts have been invaluable in raising awareness and educating your school district on this critical issue.
We extend a special thanks to all the school districts involved, showcasing their commitment to building a stronger cybersecurity culture.
