It’s often said that “people are the weakest link” in cybersecurity. We prefer to think of them as our greatest assets – not only our focus of protection, but also our greatest allies! A lot of phishes and spam that gets past our filters is caught by you. You’ve been forwarding the weird stuff to phish@widener.edu (keep it going!), and we’ve had a lot of success in reducing the number of compromised accounts. So, don’t let up – the bad guys sure aren’t. Every user at Widener is a target, even President Wollman herself. In fact, she’s one of our most eagle-eyed phish catchers!
Last week we spoke about the many scams that are hitting universities, and ours is no exception. Since that post, we’ve had several of the same types of scams come through our systems. We were safe from each due to skeptical and security-aware staff. Nevertheless, the attacks continue, and we expect them to get more targeted and better crafted.
Please be aware that one of the methods used is to build a scam so that you can’t easily verify the sender’s email address on a smartphone. Plus, if the bad guys send it during your commute, it’s even harder to know if it’s legit. Add to that an “URGENT” or a “right now,” and your red flags should go up. We want you to know who the sender really is, but we also want you to drive safely and get here okay. Check that email sender’s address on your PC, laptop, or tablet before replying.
Whether it’s preventing phishes, spam, and malware by a system we’ve put in place, or by the awareness of our user community, keeping Widener University safe is a shared responsibility.
