A whole month, subject, in which the rest of the world does what this court does all year: makes lists, holds meetings about the lists, and tells everyone else to be careful. We have never felt less alone. We have ordered bunting.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The 2026 theme is Don't Make It Easy For Them, and it asks for five ordinary habits rather than heroism: long unique passwords, a password manager to hold them, a second factor everywhere it is offered, software kept updated, and a hard stare at any message that turns up unexpectedly demanding something urgently.
The crown has read this and agrees with all five, which is unusual, and has spent the month making things difficult for its own household instead, which is not.
Free material for your October
Everything below is free, made for exactly this, and safe to put in front of a room of nine-year-olds or a room of auditors. Take what you need. There is nothing to sign and nobody to ask.
October is not the only date worth planning for. The Royal Calendar keeps the whole year: backup day, password day, the scam season, and what the court does about each.
- The phishing wanted notice. A criminal charge sheet against the email that says URGENT. Four charges, each one a real indicator, and a slide deck with genuine presenter notes for whoever has to stand up and talk about it.
- The verdicts upon the passwords of the realm. Six passwords went to the paddock. Two came back with a neigh. The horse has never explained a decision and does not intend to start.
- The decree upon two-factor authentication. A thief with a stolen password, defeated by a door, and a ranked record of what actually counts as a second factor. The one that matches this year's theme most exactly.
- Ten cybersecurity memes. One painting, one line, no explanation required. "The temporary firewall rule has been temporary since 2019." Good for a channel, a newsletter or the top of a slide nobody wanted to sit through.
- Do I really need two-factor authentication? The chronicle of the court's own awareness month, in which the gate password reaches four hundred characters and a thief walks into fifty households without touching a gate. Four minutes, and the second factor is the only thing in it that works.
- The Ten Royal Decrees. The short version of everything, carved into the firewall and never amended. The fifth reads "Enable the second factor, that the thief may weep at thy gate", and is the one October is about.
The terms of issue
Free to use unaltered: at work, in a classroom, in a newsletter, on any noticeboard that will have them. Not for resale. The credit is already printed on the thing, so there is nothing for you to add.
That is the whole treaty. The crown's lawyers are disappointed by its brevity and have been informed that the matter is closed.
Requests, questions and corrections reach the court at [email protected].
Why the court enjoys this month so much
Because for four weeks a year, everybody else also believes that a poster is a control.
The kingdom has a Chatelaine who fixes the thing before anyone notices it was broken, and it has a month of proclamations, and it is very clear which of the two the kingdom talks about. Dame Maud does not observe the month. Dame Maud observes Tuesdays.
Sire, I have read the five habits and I regret to report that they are correct, achievable, and free. I have nothing. I shall be in the buttery.
Here is the difficulty with an awareness month, and the crown says this as its most enthusiastic participant: awareness is not the hard part. Everybody is aware. The Squire is aware. The Squire is the most aware man in the kingdom and he has the password written on his arm, because the thing he was asked to do was impossible and the thing he did instead was not.
So make it difficult for them, subject, and be very careful about who else you make it difficult for. That is the entire counsel of this court, and you may have it for nothing.
The crown is a Champion, which cost nothing
Cybersecurity Awareness Month is run by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, who are real, and who publish a free toolkit each year at staysafeonline.org containing posters, tip sheets and graphics that are considerably more sensible than anything here. Registering as a Champion is free and open to anyone. This kingdom is one. This kingdom is not run by them, checked by them, or in any way their fault.
If you are putting an October campaign together and you want something that will actually get read, take theirs for the substance and ours for the bit that makes somebody stop scrolling.
The month runs the length of October. The court will observe it fully, get several things wrong, and be extremely proud. Come back in November and we shall tell you what happened, once the Chancellor has found a suitable afternoon to discuss it.