Tag: security

You’ve probably seen many news stories about Facebook and how it handles your personal data. Many of us rely on the online service to keep in touch with family, plan a vacation, chat daily with friends. We rarely think about the digital footprints we leave, or who would ever want to follow our tracks.

Sure, we knew that being fed advertising was part of the deal to use the platform for free. But how many of us actually read the privacy statement when we started using the service? And how many of us noticed the changes they’ve made over time?

Interest in watching Team USA is high. As advertisers vie for your eyeballs with the American flag and the world-famous Olympic rings, it is easy to trust the message. However, just as you should be vigilant about counterfeit merchandise and ticket scams, you should also be aware of your email inbox.

Receive an email about an online lottery promotion where you can win tickets to PyeongChang? All you need to do to win is provide EVERY personal detail about you. What could go wrong, right?

Cyber criminals are naturally drawn to money -- your money. Financial aid awarded to students is a frequent target. This is a challenge for the university, as we often need to contact you about financial aid for legitimate reasons. It is important to recognize the difference between a valid email from Buckeye Link, and a phony one from an attacker. The image posted is an example of what an authorized financial aid email from Ohio State looks like.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF FINANCIAL AID EMAILS sent from Ohio state: 

IT Security is increasingly at the forefront in the modern world. Data breaches and IT security topics are in the news all the time. Users need to understand good cyber hygiene to prevent breaches from occurring.

Ohio State considers cybersecurity one of the university’s top priorities. Resources on our new website cybersecurity.osu.edu will teach you how to protect yourself and how to protect Ohio State.

Tax related phishing attempts frequently occur, because criminals would love to get their hands on your W-2 so they can steal your identity and/or your tax refund.  This article (new for 2018 tax season) is posted to share with you what you should expect and what a legitimate W-2 email sent from Ohio State looks like.  

CISO Helen Patton was featured this fall as part of a “Women in Risk” panel at The Risk Institute’s 4th Annual Conference hosted at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.

Have you ever received a “tech support” call from Microsoft that just didn’t seem on the level? Do you regularly receive emails that may as well have SCAM in the subject line?  If you are comfortable with technology and use it frequently, you probably know what to look for and how to protect against most cyber-schemes. However, you probably have friends and family that are not comfortable and who may miss tell-tale signs that seem obvious to you.

You may have heard that Enterprise Security will soon put security in place that will block employees from forwarding their osu.edu email accounts to other accounts outside of the university (this change does NOT affect students, emeriti and non-employee alumni with Lifetime Email Forwarding Service).

Most people know that using strong and unique passwords is the best way to protect your information, but how can you remember all of them? Password managers are the solution to remembering the strong and unique passwords you set for every account.

In the course of your work for The Ohio State University, you may need to access institutional data that must be kept secure and confidential. To help you understand your responsibilities when handling institutional data, we encourage you to educate yourself by taking training that outlines the university's Institutional Data Policy. This training is recommended for all university employees and it is required annually for anyone with access to restricted data.