#BeCyberSmart for Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023

The team at TikTok is unwavering in our commitment to the safety, security, and privacy of our global community who come to our platform to inspire creativity and bring joy.

We are proud to celebrate Cybersecurity Awareness Month and amplify cybersecurity awareness to our 150 million plus members of the TikTok community in the United States.

This year, we’re highlighting two special groups of people with a passion for cybersecurity - a Creator Spotlight on members of the TikTok community educating others through cybersecurity content, and our valued security researchers from HackerOne. We’ll also be highlighting our top tips to help our community #BeCyberSmart in their daily online activities and provide guidance to people looking for a career as a cybersecurity professional.

Creator Spotlight: Cybersecurity Awareness Month

TikTok is a place where creativity and authenticity thrive and where people can celebrate diverse communities across the world. Creators such as @cececuttino, @lindavivah, and @merelyashley are providing critical cybersecurity education that helps our TikTok community learn how to stay safe online:

• @cececuttino (Georgia, USA) - Cece uses her TikTok to integrate her love of fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and cybersecurity. Motivating her audience, Cece looks to share her knowledge about a field that is not talked about enough, while staying true to herself and breaking down stereotypes of what a cybersecurity professional looks like.
• @lindavivah (New York, USA) - Linda is a technologist, singer, and mom who creates content that draws on her experience as a software and cloud engineer. Her TikTok gives her a platform to build community and educate others in innovative (and sometimes musical) ways. Linda believes that one of the most rewarding parts of working in tech is the opportunity to always be learning, which she then pays forward through her videos.
• @merelyashley (North Carolina, USA) - Ashley combines her passion of cybersecurity, digital investigations, and online education on TikTok. With her motto of ’Cybersecurity Made Easy’, she explains cybersecurity topics in relatable and easy to understand ways. She says she found her purpose and community on TikTok, empowering individuals and assisting them in reclaiming their digital autonomy and online safety.

Celebrating Three Years with HackerOne

HackerOne has been a critical partner since 2020 in keeping the TikTok platform safe with leading third-party security researchers who put our security measures to the test. In addition to our bug bounty program, TikTok is a founding sponsor of HackerOne’s Corporate Security Responsibility (CSecR) pledge, which promotes our core values of transparency, collaboration, innovation, and differentiation to help create a safer digital world for everyone.

Throughout the last three years, our Global Bug Bounty program has awarded over $960,000 in bounties to over 360 security researchers. These researchers have proactively identified and disclosed over 700 security vulnerabilities so our team could quickly resolve them.

We would like to thank some of our top HackerOne contributors as of October 1, 2023:

• datph4m: A top contributor in both 2022 and 2023, Pham is a security engineer at a software company in Vietnam who has been working with HackerOne since 2019. In his free time, he enjoys participating in bug bounty programs, enjoying the user-friendly, professional, and transparent platform.
• ibrahim0936356: Ibrahim, a 23-year-old researcher from Syria, is studying Artificial Intelligence and enjoys ethical hacking in his free time. He has been active on HackerOne since March of 2022, and values the opportunity to help large companies enhance their security.
• imran_nisar: Imran, originally from Jammu and Kashmir, is currently completing his Masters in Cybersecurity in the United Kingdom. Imran is passionate about making the digital world a safer place, and says that he values HackerOne as a platform to work alongside bright minds in cybersecurity, all united by the common goal of improving cybersecurity and safety of online platforms, including TikTok.

Cybersecurity Tips & Tricks

We believe everyone benefits from a safer and more secure online world, and we strive to give our community to tools to practice safe online habits each and every day. Here are some of our top tips to #BeCyberSmart:

• Practice smart cyber hygiene by using strong passwords with at least 15 unique characters, and be sure to change those passwords regularly.
• Add an extra layer of protection to your online accounts by turning on two-step verification to help us verify it’s you if you log in from an unrecognized device or protect your account if your password is compromised.
• Turn on passkeys where possible, which take advantage of security features stored on your mobile device that can be used to log in to your TikTok account without having to remember a password.
• Be wary of phishing attacks - don’t download or click on suspicious links or respond to senders that you don’t know. Remember that phishing can happen on the phone, on social media, via text or email, or even in person.
• When using public Wi-Fi, be mindful of where you browse and use a VPN wherever you can.
• Keep your devices and apps up-to-date so you have the latest security features, fixes, and improvements.

Getting started in the field of cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Ventures has reported that globally since 2023 cybersecurity job opportunities have grown by 350 percent to 3.5 million open roles in 2023. This month, we’re empowering people who want to level up their cybersecurity expertise to explore opportunities across industries, including exciting open roles with TikTok’s security team in New York, Washington DC, Mountain View, Los Angeles, Nashville, Dublin, Singapore, and more.

Interested? Check out some tips below on how to get started:

• Find Your Passion: There are so many ways you can translate your skills and interests into a cyber career. Curious in how things work (and how they break)? As an application pen tester you could proactively probe an application’s security defenses to find areas of improvement. Interested in criminal investigations? Cybercrime investigators look at computer systems for evidence of unlawful activities.
• #LearnOnTikTok: TikTok creators, including those highlighted in our Creator Spotlight, are incredible resources for you to learn cybersecurity skills, keep up on the latest tips to #BeCyberSmart, or check out what a day in the life of a cyber professional is like.
• Skills and Certifications: Not only can you pursue higher education in cybersecurity, there are a multitude of relevant certifications that can teach you important skills, from general to focused on a specific technology or vendor solution.