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By EMILY REED | Special to the Reporter

ALABASTER – The city of Alabaster will host a free cybersecurity workshop on Friday, Oct. 21 for businesses and individuals.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. at City Hall and is being held in conjunction with Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Kyle Rakestraw who works in the cybersecurity field will lead the workshop, and initially approached the city about hosting the event.

City public information officer Neal Wagner said the city was happy to provide the space for the workshop and help promote the event.

Cybersecurity focuses on the practice of protecting networks, programs and systems from digital attacks.

Nationally, October is recognized as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, focusing on helping individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data become more commonplace, according to Cisa.gov.

Since 2004, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) lead a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise cybersecurity awareness nationally and internationally, according to Cisa.gov.

“It is important information for all of our residents and business owners, especially with things like ransomware and phishing attacks on the rise across the nation, and we are thankful that Kyle has volunteered to share his knowledge and lead the workshop,” Wagner said.

Those interested in attending the workshop are encouraged to register for the event by visiting Alabaster.seamlessdocs.com/f/cybersecurityevent.