March 24, 2020
March 13, 2020
Summary
*** Patch Windows 10 and affected Windows Server 2019 systems IMMEDIATELY, even where there is a potential business impact (unscheduled maintenance). Notify security@berkeley.edu if you anticipate delays in patching. ***
March 9, 2020
January 28, 2020
On Mar. 23 CalNet fully depreciated TLS 1.0/1.1.
On Mar. 23, CalNet disabled TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols from being used to access CAS, Shibboleth, CalGroups, CalNet Account Manager, and LDAP.
TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are insecure and vulnerable to attacks which risk the integrity and authentication of data sent between client and destination. Disabling these protocols will mitigate these issues, adhere to campus policy, and to protect institutional data and IT resources.
January 27, 2020
We have become aware that identity thieves are calling individuals on campus via landline or cellular devices asking for personal information. Remember to be vigilant and careful about protecting your personal information.
We work very hard to protect our voice network; however, attackers may try to use a technology called spoofing to trick you into giving up information. Spoofing is the practice of deliberately falsifying the information transmitted to your caller ID to pretend to be someone else.
January 20, 2020
With the California Consumer Privacy Act taking effect this year, data privacy will become a central issue for businesses in 2020. Consumers conduct much of their lives on the internet, yet few understand the critical issue of privacy and how their personal information is used, collected and shared by businesses. Your data can be stored indefinitely and used in both beneficial and unwelcome ways.
January 15, 2020
You and Your W-2
Every year phishing messages are crafted by tax scammers to trick victims into giving out personal information. Taxpayers should continue to watch out for fake emails and/or websites looking to steal personal information. Be wary of any message asking for W-2 or other tax information. Additionally, because of the UCPath conversion attackers may send emails with fraudulent links. Do not open any attachments or click on any email links.
January 14, 2020
Summary
A spoofing vulnerability exists in the way Windows CryptoAPI (Crypt32.dll) validates Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) certificates. This vulnerability affects the Microsoft Windows 10 desktop operating system, as well as Windows Server 2016 and 2019.
Microsoft has released a security update that addresses the vulnerability by ensuring that Windows CryptoAPI completely validates ECC certificates.
Summary
*** Vulnerable RD Gateway servers should be patched IMMEDIATELY even where there is a potential business impact (unscheduled maintenance). Notify security@berkeley.edu if you anticipate any delays in patching. ***
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Windows Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway).
January 13, 2020
Summary
Mozilla has published an out-of-band patch for Mozilla Firefox and Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR). It fixes a type confusion vulnerability in Mozilla’s Javascript compiler, IonMonkey. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2019-17026. [1]
Mozilla’s advisory states they are “aware of targeted attacks in the wild abusing this flaw.” Based on this note in the advisory, it appears the vulnerability was exploited in the wild as a zero-day. [2]
January 9, 2020
January 8, 2020
In honor of International Data Privacy Day, January 28
All of us exist in digital form on the Internet. When you're online you leave a trail of "digital exhaust" in the form of cookies, GPS data, social network posts, browser searches, and email exchanges, among others. Services that you don’t even use may have information about you. And once something is online, it can be there forever.
January 6, 2020
November 13, 2019
We are excited to announce some organizational developments and opportunities to work with us.
Recently ISO underwent a structural reorganization. This new structure allows us to continue to evolve and respond to challenges in the information security space, to streamline operations, and to create additional efficiencies. Vacant positions will be posted shortly to jobs.berkeley.edu and to our website.
November 12, 2019
Even outside the traditional "Holiday" season we find ourselves purchasing items online. And so, it's good to remember online shopping best practices year round. In addition to our holiday shopping tips, here are a few others to keep you safe while online shopping:
November 11, 2019
The Information Security Office is proud to graduate Ryan Tran, our first Staff Information Security Intern!
We wanted to mark the occasion by talking with him about what he learned while at ISO.
November 6, 2019
I love this time of year; the air gets crisp, the leaves start to turn, and I get to wear sweaters all the time. However, the thought of leaving the house to battle the crowds elicits panic level 12. Perhaps that's why online shopping is gaining even more popularity. An estimated 165.8 million people shopped between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday in 2018! [1]
There will be some changes coming to information security policies at Berkeley brought on by a major update to the UC systemwide information security policy (IS-3). The revision brings sweeping changes to the way information security risk is handled on Campus.