We love that Cybersecurity Awareness Month ends with Halloween, so there’s no better excuse to dress up and spread the word about cybersecurity. So, as Halloween approaches, consider these cybersecurity Halloween costume ideas to dress up and make your friends aware of some important cybersecurity topics:
Phishing Email
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The first thing most people think of when it comes to cybersecurity is phishing. According to research, phishing is the first place most cybersecurity issues and breaches start. So, it’s quite an appropriate costume to represent information security or cybersecurity.
For this costume, you can simply dress as a fisherman and stick a piece of mail on the end of your fishing like that says “phishing email.” Another idea is to dress as an envelope (or just a shirt that says, “pretend I’m an envelope” or email and carry around a phishing pole. You could also carry a “spear” if you wanted to explain to people what “spear phishing” is.
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Computer Virus
Phishing is the most common way that individuals end up downloading harmful computer viruses. Due to COVID, there are a lot more “virus” costumes than in the past. You could wear one of these costumes, or one of these masks with a computer shirt and go to your Halloween party as a computer virus.
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Ransomware
Ransomware has taken off and gotten a lot of publicity, especially with major ransomware attacks that made the news. It’s estimated that there are over 4,000 successful ransomware attacks each day. If you want to embellish this costume, you could carry around a gasoline can as a reference to the Colonial Pipeline attack, or simply put a sign with “data” on your shirt to show that you’re stealing data.
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Dangerous Free Public Wifi
Public wifi often isn’t very secure, which is why cybersecurity professionals recommend using a VPN – especially when using public wifi. Where this shirt or sign along with almost any scary costume, and you’re “dangerous” free public wifi.
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A Strong, Unique Password
| In cybersecurity we’re always encouraging people to come up with strong, unique passwords. Passwords are the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your computer and personal information. The stronger your password, the more protected your computer will be from hackers and malicious software. If you’re muscular, and looking for a cheap and easy costume, here you go. |  |
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A Weak Password
| The opposite of a strong password is a weak one. Unfortunately, over 80% of hacking-related data breaches in corporate settings are linked to stolen or weak passwords.
Try wearing a shirt that highlights one of the most commonly used passwords around “Password123” or use the “Password” one above. Or, point out the obvious – that using “password” as your password isn’t such a good idea. |
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Social Engineering
We talk a lot in cybersecurity about social engineering. It’s the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes. Here’s a creative way to convey that information security concept. All it takes is a security outfit and a social media sticker.
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Identity TheftThe real fear of having your data stolen in a breach is identity theft. With your personal information, someone can impersonate you and leave you holding the bill. You can either buy this shirt from Amazon, or you can make your own. Simply buy a bunch of “Hello, my name is” stickers and write different names on it. Cheap and creative! |
Incognito Mode“Incognito Mode” is the spookiest mask of all, giving the illusion of privacy. While it prevents your browser from saving your local history and cookies, a surprising fact is that Incognito Mode does not hide your activity from the websites you visit, your internet service provider (ISP), or your employer. The mode is strictly a local privacy feature, not a tool for genuine anonymity. For your costume, dress in the classic digital cloak of mystery: a dark trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses, or the modern, more relatable disguise of an oversized black hoodie and baseball cap. It’s a fun way to remind everyone that true privacy requires more than just opening a new browser window! |
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Red Team
If you’ve got a group of people and you’re looking for a cheap, easy and work-appropriate cybersecurity costume, you can simply all where red and go as the “red team.” If you’re not familiar, the “red team” in information security are the folks that work as internal hackers to expose vulnerabilities. There’s also a “blue team” and “purple team” (if you prefer different colors).
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The Classic Hacker
The classic symbol of a hacker is the Guy Fawkes mask and a black hoodie. How did this happen? The online hacktivist group Anonymous has used it for Project Chanology, the Occupy movement, Anonymous for the Voiceless, and other anti-establishment protests around the world. The publicity around their hacks have made this the default look of a hacker.
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If you wanted to embellish this costume, you could add a white or black hat to the ensemble. A “white hat” is an ethical hacker, while a “black hat” is not.
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Cloud Security
With everything moving to the cloud, there’s an extra emphasis on making sure that it’s secure. Developers have to make sure there are no misconfigurations, especially after the Twitch breach. If you wanted to embellish this costume, get a chain and lock to wrap around this outfit.
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Security Patch
Nowadays everything requires a security patch to prevent hacking. You’d be surprised how many things need security updates. You might know about getting a “security patch” to update electronics. In cybersecurity, there’s also something called “Patch Tuesday“ which is when many popular pieces of software roll out updates every week. Here are a couple of simple costume ideas to highlight security patching.
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A Threat Actor
Threat actors are the people who intend to get past cybersecurity to conduct dangerous or malicious activities. While this one is a bit of a stretch, you could dress like any threatening character, or wear the Guy Fawkes mask and carry around a movie-style clap board like this, to indicate that you are a threat “actor.” Punny, I know!
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If all else fails – Error 404When a webpage doesn’t exist, the standard webpage you get is called an “Error 404” page. So if you can’t find a costume you like, this is a cheap and easy – and admittedly lazy – Halloween costume for technology geeks. |
If you’ve got other ideas, please share them with us below.