University Information Technology (UIT) wants students to better protect their security online.
The group will participate in National Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual October campaign that encourages communities to recognize prevalent Internet issues. Dan Bowden, chief security officer for UIT, said students often underestimate these online dangers that pose serious threats to their identity and data.
“The amount of fraud has escalated to incredible levels over the last three years,” he said.
Phishing, one of the more common security issues, occurs when a student receives an email feigning to be a familiar site, such as an online banking entity. If they open the link and enter in any account information, a hacker can access their personal information. One tip, therefore, is to make sure the sites you visit are verified.
“If the contact was unsolicited, you should always be suspicious,” Bowden said.
Another cyber attack, known as social engineering, happens when a student gets a phone call from someone claiming to be an official from the FBI or the IRS. The caller threatens financial or legal trouble if the student does not act quickly to provide money or personal information.
To safeguard against this, Bowden suggests students change their settings on CIS so their phone number is not available to the public through the university’s directory. Additionally, students should contact the actual agency the caller purports to be associated with to verify its legitimacy.
UIT also hopes to raise awareness about devices and services that use cloud storage. Bowden said a big problem is that “a lot of people don’t read the privacy policies of organizations.” Many are unaware of how services, such as social media platforms, use personal information. For example, Facebook can track what sites you visit when you’re logged into its network.
Above all, Bowden said the best way to stay secure online is to change your passwords every three to six months. He also advises not using the same passwords for different sites.
But for Tessa Palmer, a sophomore in biology, online security doesn’t weigh heavily on her day-to-day worries.
“I hope I’m pretty secure,” she said.
To bring awareness to this misconception, UIT will focus on a different topic of cyber security each week in October, including university regulations and cloud storage. More information about the month-long campaign can be found at it.utah.edu
@NikiVenugopal