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Week 2 of National Cyber Security Awareness Month tackles the dangers of phishing

by Tony Moore

With National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) underway, we’re revisiting articles from last year’s NCSAM series, detailing ways to keep yourself safe online. So check out the second article from last year's series below. And be careful of those links!

Updated from October 17, 2015

You open Outlook or Gmail and find an email from your mom. It’s probably about Thanksgiving dinner, you think. Or maybe she’s passing on one of her infamous forwarded jokes. But the message starts “Dear friend,” and Mom has provided a link to some photos that apparently the two of you discussed at an earlier time. It all seems little odd, but it’s Mom, so you click on the link.

And … now you’ve fallen prey to something known as phishing.

Phishing is an online ploy through which a scammer emails a potential victim with an offer that 1. seems legitimate but isn’t or 2. seems weird and wrong but is coming from an email address the recipient knows and trusts (thanks, Mom).

Once the email is opened, the potential victim clicks on the link provided and then becomes an actual victim when that click starts to download malware. Alternatively, the person clicks through the link and misguidedly provides sensitive personal information (passwords, Social Security number). So be smart and keep these points in mind when you’re online:

  • Clicking on a link when you’re already on a trusted site is OK. The end.
  • Think before you act: Be wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true or ask for personal information.
  • Clicking on links that appear in random emails and instant messages is not a good idea. In the end, if a message seems suspicious, it probably is.

If the message is from a company you often deal with, and you think the message may be legitimate but are still wary, go directly to the company's website (i.e., type the real URL into your browser) or contact the company to see if you really need to take the action described in the email message. When you recognize a phishing message, delete the email message from your inbox and then empty it from the deleted items folder to avoid accidentally accessing the websites it points to.

To test your knowledge of phishing scams, look for the upcoming quiz LIS has created. All Dickinson students, faculty and staff are welcome to take part, and a $50 gift card to Best Buy as well as a $25 gift card for the Dickinson Bookstore are at stake.

And two cyber security presentations are on the horizon (and there's free pizza at the Oct. 18 event!):

  • “Cyber Security Best Practices,” Oct. 18, 12-1 p.m., Stern Great Room: Matia Marks, client executive at RCM&D, and Ben Zook, senior underwriter, Chubb Insurance Company, will give a talk on how both institutions and individuals can protects themselves from cyber threats. Please register in CLIQ.
  • "Ripped From the Headlines: Cybersecurity," Oct. 21, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Althouse 109: Join innovative former journalist Frank James ‘79, now media strategist for the WilmerHale law firm, for a discussion of recent news events involving cybersecurity. There’s a lot to discuss, such as revelations of the massive Yahoo breach and the Obama administration’s charge that the Russian government is behind the hacking of U.S. political organizations and figures. Besides developing a position about the issues at hand, participants will seek to identify the disciplinary and political commitments that inform a particular editorial position. Civic dialogue is welcomed, as is fast talking; a lot of ground will be covered in the hour! 

Please add to your calendar a talk by the Department of Homeland Security’s first principal deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis:

  • The Cyber Presidential Campaign of 2016,” Oct. 26, 7 p.m., Stern Great Room: A Clarke Forum event in which Jack Tomarchio will analyze how cyber breach and cyber security have influenced our national presidential election.

Learn more

Published September 29, 2016