Today, the White House issued a Presidential Proclamation designating October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. On Friday, I will be speaking together with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano at the official kick-off event for the month at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. In the following weeks, the Department of Homeland Security will be hosting events across the nation to bring cybersecurity awareness to your state and your community. Every company, school, and family should use October as an opportunity to focus on cybersecurity – update training, attend or host an event, or talk to your children about responsible use of the Internet. 

Cybersecurity is of course not something we can pay attention to for only one-month each year. It is a shared responsibility each and every day. That is why last year we began the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign – Stop. Think. Connect., an ongoing effort to educate Americans about risks in cyberspace and promotes simple steps that everyone can take to protect themselves online.  

I’d also like to highlight the re-launch of OnGuardOnline.gov, the federal government’s website to help you be safe, secure and responsible online. The site is a resource for parents, educators, and individuals who want to learn more about cybersecurity.  Managed by the Federal Trade Commission, OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in Stop. Think. Connect. and part of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. I encourage everyone to visit these three sites to learn more about what you can do to be safe online.  

As this is the eighth National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it is a fitting time to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still need to go to secure this nation in cyberspace. At the start of the Obama Administration, we released the Cyberspace Policy Review, which issued a near term action plan to improve cybersecurity. I am pleased to say that our progress looks pretty good. In the last year, we issued two strategies that address major items on the action plan. The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace described a private-public partnership that will improve the way online transactions are conducted by moving beyond passwords toward secure, reliable online credentials.  The federal government is now working to implement this vision on our own networks and encouraging the private sector to do so as well. We also released the first comprehensive International Strategy for Cyberspace, calling for prosperity, security, and openness in a networked world. The strategy lays out the Administration’s vision for the future of the Internet and an agenda for partnering with other nations and peoples to realize this vision. Yet still more must be done. Working with the private sector, we expect to finalize the National Cyber Incident Response Plan shortly. The interim version of this plan has served our government well in managing cyber incidents over the last year. The revised plan has benefited from this experience.  

Over the next year, we will continue progressing on the President’s vision of an open, interoperable, secure and reliable Internet. This month, stay tuned for the release of a strategic plan that will outline how we will develop the next-generation of game-changing technologies for cybersecurity and for the release of the Department of Homeland Security’s strategic plan for securing the homeland security enterprise in cyberspace. 

President Obama today welcomed Army General Martin Dempsey as the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he honored the outgoing Chairman, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, and thanked him for his four years of extraordinary service in that role and his four decades in uniform.

The President was attending the "Change of Office" Staff Ceremony, where he paid tribute to Mullen’s illustrious career and highlighted many of his accomplishments in office, saying that “our military is stronger and our nation is more secure because of the service that you have rendered.”   

Today, we have renewed American leadership in the world. We’ve strengthened our alliances, including NATO. We’re leading again in Asia. And we forged a new treaty with Russia to reduce our nuclear arsenals. And every American can be grateful to Admiral Mullen -- as am I -- for his critical role in each of these achievements, which will enhance our national security for decades to come. 

Today, we see the remarkable achievements of our 9/11 generation of service members. They’ve given Iraqis a chance to determine their own future. They’ve pushed the Taliban out of their Afghan strongholds and finally put al Qaeda on the path to defeat. Meanwhile, our forces have responded to sudden crises with compassion, as in Haiti, and with precision, as in Libya. And it will be long remembered that our troops met these tests on Admiral Mullen’s watch and under his leadership. 

Vice President Biden made a short hop across the Potomac yesterday to the Alexandria Police Department in Alexandria, Virginia where he delivered remarks on how the American Jobs Act would help keep police officers and first responders on the beat in northern Virginia and across the country.

Alexandria is just one of thousands of communities where police forces have taken a hit due to budget cutbacks. Thanks to an $800,000 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant announced on Wednesday, the Alexandria Police Department will be able to put four out of nine of the officers they lost back on patrol. The American Jobs Act, as Vice President Biden said, would fund an additional $4 billion in COPS grants – like the one awarded to Alexandria – that would support the hiring, re-hiring and retention of officers in departments nationwide.

Vice President Biden went on to describe cities like Flint, Michigan, where two thirds of the police force has been laid off in the last 3 years, and Cleveland, Ohio, where the police academy graduated a class of 100 officers – all of whom had to turn in their badge and gun right after graduation because there were no positions available.

“We need to help these departments,” said the Vice President. “When you cut forces, and you cut them significantly, it not only diminishes public safety, it diminishes your ability to stay safe.”

President Obama talked about a range of issues from immigration and education to Social Security and the American Jobs Act during a round table discussion with representatives from three of the largest Hispanic online outlets where he answered questions submitted by their audiences.  
 
Jose Siade from Yahoo Español, Karine Medina from MSN Latino and Gabriel Lerner from AOL Latino and Huff-Post Latino Voices joined the President in the White House Map Room for an hour-long conversation  that centered on the issues that matter most to Hispanic Americans.
 
Click on the questions below to go directly to President Obama’s answers and watch President Obama's Open for Questions Roundtable, here. 

• What are you doing in order to reform immigration laws and allow the undocumented persons living in the United States to seek a pathway to contributing to society?
• What is your policy on deportation?
• What do you plan to do for the remainder of your term to ensure that companies begin hiring again?
• What happened to the investigation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona?
• What can be done to avoid further discrimination or bullying particularly within various racial groups particularly for Hispanic kids?
• Is there anything the United States could do to strengthen the Mexican economy and reduce the incentive for illegal immigration?
• What can be done for bi-national LGBT spouses who would like to sponsor their partner but are blocked from doing so by provisions in the Defense of Marriage Act?
• Why has the DREAM act not been passed?
• What is your position regarding Cuba and the embargo?
• What is your strategy to stop the flow of weapons bought in the US and entering Mexico?
• What do you believe is the greatest challenge that the Hispanic community faces in this country?
• Do you think it’s time for a Hispanic Vice President or President?
• How do you propose to improve healthcare in the United States?
• What are the requirements needed to establish a clear referendum on Puerto Rico’s status?
• Will there be extra allotments in cost of living adjustments for Social Security?