Category: Tips
Tip: How to Update Devices
A crucial part of maintaining a safe computing environment is keeping your computer and mobile devices up to date with the latest versions of their operating systems. This process is known as patching or updating. Both refer to fixing vulnerabilities through improvements to the underlying software running your device. Whether your role at the University is student, faculty, or staff, the Information Security Office has… Read More about Tip: How to Update Devices.
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Tip: Beware of Dubious Donation Scams
When tragedy strikes, scammers go to work on taking advantage of people’s desire to help. If you receive communications regarding donating to charity, there are resources available to help you navigate the legitimacy of the organization. These organizations offer reports and ratings about how charitable organizations spend donations and how they conduct business: BBB Wise Giving Alliance Charity Navigator CharityWatch GuideStar The IRS’s Tax Exempt… Read More about Tip: Beware of Dubious Donation Scams.
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Tip: Employment Scams
Recently, the Information Security Office has been alerted to an uptick in attempts to gather personal information from students via fake job offers purporting to be from research employment opportunities. Here are some tips to help you sort out whether a job offer solicited via e-mail is legitimate or not (here’s a clue: they’re usually not). The employer contacted you and you never contacted them…. Read More about Tip: Employment Scams.
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Tip: Tax Season
Tax season is upon us, and with it, an opportunity for scammers to try and capture your personal information for financial gain. Maintain vigilance, and if you get a strange feeling about phone call or e-mail, don’t hesitate to follow up and verify authenticity before doing anything else! Here are some tips you can use to reduce your chances of being a victim: -File your… Read More about Tip: Tax Season.
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Tip: Ad-Blocking
Ad-Blocking It is nearly impossible to browse the web without encountering advertisements. It is almost a guarantee that your favorite site uses ads in support of continued content publishing. Often, ads are not supplied by the site owner themselves, but rather a third-party service (Google’s DoubleClick and AdWords are examples, but there are many others). The current process by which organizations purchase ads allows for abuse as those purchasing have a low financial barrier to entry. Additionally, some ad networks… Read More about Tip: Ad-Blocking.
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Tip: Credit Card Security
Credit Card Security Tip Don’t buy anything from an unsolicited phone call: Criminals can obtain credit card information by posing as merchants, even if the product/service sounds legitimate. Ask if you can call back using the company’s published phone number. Make sure you have a secure connection: When making a payment online, always be sure the URL begins with https://. That “s” means it’s secure.. Sign your card: Thieves can add their… Read More about Tip: Credit Card Security.
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Tip: Password Management
We’re all asked to sign in to a myriad of web sites daily for our jobs, shopping, managing finances, or reading current events. Not only do these sites have conflicting requirements for passwords, they have vastly different security goals for storing passwords and other account information. Because passwords, especially in combination with your email account, are the key to so much of your private information, here are… Read More about Tip: Password Management.
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Tip: Protect Your Phone
The number one step for protecting your mobile device is making sure it has a strong passcode or password lock on it so only you can access it. A passcode won’t protect your device from theft, but if it’s stolen or lost, the passcode can prevent anyone but you from accessing your sensitive information such as private messages, contact information, and even mobile banking data.