Washington, D.C. – June 12, 2025 – The National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) has been named a winner of a 2025 CSO Award from Foundry’s CSO. The honor recognizes NCA’s public awareness campaign, AI Fools, Stay Sharp!, a creative, cross-channel initiative that teaches people how to identify and avoid artificial intelligence-powered voice scams through an accessible, human-centered solution: establishing “safe words.” 

The campaign materials are available here: Safe Word | AI Fools - National Cybersecurity Alliance 

This year’s CSO Award winners were chosen for their innovative security projects that deliver outstanding business value and thought leadership. NCA will be recognized alongside other honorees at the CSO Conference & Awards, held October 20–22, 2025, in Indian Wells, CA. 

“The scope and complexity of cybersecurity responsibilities are expanding rapidly—especially in the face of emerging AI-driven threats,” said Beth Kormanik, Content Director of the CSO Conference & Awards. “This year’s CSO Award winners exemplify how today’s security leaders are meeting these challenges head-on.” 

AI Fools, Stay Sharp! launched in April of 2025 and combined digital and traditional media to reach broad public audiences. Tactics included radio ads, digital billboards, downloadable toolkits, social media content, and a live webinar. Together, the campaign’s online resources received over 49,000 page views, with more than 2,100 toolkit downloads and an estimated 1.1 million impressions from radio and outdoor media. 

“AI scams are complicated and scary, but our campaign wasn’t,” said Lisa Plaggemier, Executive Director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. “By offering one simple step – create a family safe word – we helped people take control and feel empowered. That’s the heart of our mission: making online safety easy, inclusive, and actionable for everyone.” 

About the National Cybersecurity Alliance   

The National Cybersecurity Alliance is a nonprofit organization on a mission to create a more secure, interconnected world. We advocate for the safe use of all technology and educate everyone on how best to protect ourselves, our families, and our organizations from cybercrime. We create strong partnerships between governments and corporations to amplify our message and foster a greater “digital” good. Our core efforts include Cybersecurity Awareness Month (October), Data Privacy Week (January), the Convene conference series, and CyberSecure My Business. For more information, visit https://staysafeonline.org. 

About CSO 

CSO serves enterprise security decision-makers and users with the critical information they need to stay ahead of evolving threats and defend against criminal cyberattacks. With incisive content that addresses all security disciplines—from risk management to network defense to fraud and data loss prevention—CSO offers unparalleled depth and insight to support key decisions and investments for IT security professionals. www.csoonline.com 

About the CSO Awards and CSO Hall of Fame 

The CSO Awards recognize organizations for security projects and initiatives demonstrating outstanding business value and thought leadership. The CSO Hall of Fame honors leaders who have significantly contributed to advancing information risk management and security. Award winners are honored at the CSO Conference & Awards.