Visitors Updates
AI: What is It and Why Should I Care?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) describes systems programmed to think and respond like humans. In fact, we asked the AI solution ChatGPT that very question and got this response. https://www.sans.org/newsletters/ouch/artificial-intelligence/
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, smart watches, and tablets, continue to advance and innovate at an astonishing rate. As a result, you may be replacing a new device as often as every year. Unfortunately, you may not realize just how much personal data are on your devices — far more than your computer. Below we cover the different types of data on your mobile devices and how you can securely wipe your device before disposing or replacing it. Read more at https://www.sans.org/newsletters/ouch/disposing-mobile-devices/
The holiday season is a time when people are especially vulnerable to scams. This is because they are busy and often have their guard down. Criminals take advantage of this by circulating fake e-gift cards, posing as charities, targeting specific demographics, and so on.
- E-gift card scams
- Charities
- Demographic targeting
- Subscription renewals
- Crypto scams
More detail can be found at https://blog.knowbe4.com/send-this-to-your-users-5-top-scams-to-watch-out-for-this-holiday-season
The phishing "impersonation" problem is something that is very hard to deal with from a technical perspective:
- There are LOTS of people to impersonate (virtually any supervisor is a target)
- Impersonation can take many forms, e.g.,
- just a name in the body of the message
- a personal name associated with the sender
- an external address that looks like it belongs to the person being impersonated
- It's up to the recipient to apply a "smell" test:
- Does the real sender match the impersonated sender?
- Does the message come from the impersonated sender's UNI email address?
- Does the content and what's shared from where make sense?
- Remain skeptical about the authenticity of the message
- Perhaps even contact the impersonated sender, not by replying to the questionable message but by reaching out via direct email, a phone call, or a face-to-face question.
If the message seems at all odd, it almost certainly is a phishing attempt. Better to think a real message is phishing than vice versa! You will be forgiven (or certainly should be!).
If you use a computer or mobile device long enough, sooner or later something will go wrong. You may accidentally delete the wrong files, have a hardware failure, or lose a device. Even worse, malware may infect and wipe or encrypt your files. At times like these, backups are often the only way you can rebuild your digital life. Continue reading at https://www.sans.org/newsletters/ouch/emotional-triggers-how-cyber-attackers-trick-you/
Since 2004, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, helping individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data become more commonplace. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) lead a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise cybersecurity awareness nationally and internationally. Read more at https://www.cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month
I have been made aware of several instances of text alerts being sent to phones that purport to be from a Veridian domain. The alerts allege that a charge has been made and ask the recipient to login to veridianalertcu [dot] org with the recipient's Veridian credentials. The fake domain page looked very realistic and has already been taken down. Be very aware that a similar domain with relevant messaging may pop up again at any time.
If you use a computer or mobile device long enough, sooner or later something will go wrong. You may accidentally delete the wrong files, have a hardware failure, or lose a device. Even worse, malware may infect and wipe or encrypt your files. At times like these, backups are often the only way you can rebuild your digital life. Read more at https://www.sans.org/newsletters/ouch/backups/
Beware of 'Microsoft Office' USB sticks that show up in the mail. It's a scam! Plugging the USB into a computer will trigger a virus alert and encourage people to call a customer support line, where a scammer will take over the computer and demand payment. Read more here: https://www.pcmag.com/news/beware-microsoft-office-usb-sticks-that-show-up-in-the-mail-its-a-scam
Cyber criminals know that one of the best ways to rush people into making a mistake is by creating a heightened sense of urgency. And one of the easiest ways to create a sense of urgency is to take advantage of a crisis. This is why cyber criminals love it whenever there is a traumatic event with global impact. What most of us regard as a tragedy, cyber criminals view as an opportunity, such as the breakout of a war, a major natural disaster such as a volcanic explosion, and of course infectious disease breakouts like COVID- 19. When there is an immense amount of social media and news coverage about a certain event, cyber criminals know that is the time to strike. Read more at https://www.sans.org/newsletters/ouch/charity-disaster-scams/
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