News

October 15, 2020

Congrats to Our Staff Security Intern Graduates
The second round of our Security Internship Program has ended and we are pleased to congratulate Ilona Ozmon and Kris Beltran for graduating from the program.
Windows Vulnerability - CVE-2020-16898
A serious vulnerability exists in the Windows TCP/IP network stack [1,2]. Currently, it is known that this vulnerability can be used to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) event, however, Microsoft and others are warning that it may also be possible to remotely execute code. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted ICMPv6 Router Advertisement to the target system. The vulnerability does not require authentication or user-interaction.

October 5, 2020

Phishing Example: BERKELEY UNIVERSITY WORK FROM SCHOOL OR HOME PART TIME FALL 2020
These are targeted and simple forms of phishing emails designed to get victims to interact and establish a rapport. The messages start out as basic greetings or job opportunities and then progress into requests for money or data.

September 4, 2020

Phishing Example: Security Notice - Fix Security Info Now
These attacks are a sophisticated, targeted form of phishing emails spoofing the security office with the intention of scaring the victim to get them to click on a nefarious link. The Information Security Office will never ask for you to "validate" your information via a link in an email.

September 3, 2020

Phishing Example: (ITCS Notification:) Account Irregular Activity Detected [INC1147653]
These attacks are a sophisticated, targeted form of phishing emails designed to look like legitimate UC Berkeley IT Client Services emails with the intention of scaring the victim to get them to provide personal information. Legitimate UC Berkeley IT departments will NEVER ask for your passphrase over email.

August 27, 2020

Department of Homeland Security: Beware Fake Election Websites

The FBI has reported an increase in suspicious websites popping up that look like official election websites but are in fact fraudulent. These sites have multiple purposes:

August 18, 2020

Preventing Social Engineering Attacks
Social Engineering criminals focus their attention at attacking people as opposed to infrastructure. Social engineering begins with research; an attacker may look for publicly available information that they can use against you. These attacks can come in a variety of formats: email, voicemail, SMS messages, DMs, or via social media and attempt to prey on your respect for authority, courtesy, or trust.

August 13, 2020

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 End of Life
Every Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product has a life cycle and that life cycle ends when it no longer receives security updates or fixes, software updates, and/or technical support. On Nov. 30, 2020 Red Hat will discontinue support for RHEL 6. Campus policy requires that devices connected to the network run software for which security patches are made available and installed in a timely fashion. After support ends, RHEL 6 will no longer be in compliance with campus policy.

August 7, 2020

Phishing Example: Tutoring
These are targeted forms of phishing emails designed to establish trust with the victim in order to give up personal information or money.

July 15, 2020

Scammers Exploit California’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program
In ongoing efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Newsom launched "California Connected, " the state's contract tracing program and public awareness campaign. Malicious actors are leveraging the program to use phishing scams to exploit the public.

July 5, 2020

Phishing Example: Evaluation of UCRP Benefits for University of California, Berkeley
These are targeted forms of phishing emails designed to get victims to click on malicious links and to give up personal email or phone numbers. UC Berkeley has no relationship with this organization. If you receive an email from PERA, do not interact, report it as a phishing email through bmail and delete.

June 30, 2020

Phishing Example: URGENT REQUEST (Email Impersonation)
These are targeted and simple forms of phishing emails designed to get victims to purchase gift cards, or to give up personal email or phone numbers. The "email compromise" gets its name because the attacker mimics the email of a known sender. However, these can also be sent through a legitimate, albeit hacked account. The messages start out as basic greetings then progress into requests for money or data. Since the content is highly personalized it’s often easy to get hooked.

June 23, 2020

New Phishing Awareness Campaign

Why "Fight the Phish"?

June 22, 2020

Berkeley COVID-19 Information
These are targeted and simple forms of phishing emails designed to get victims to interact, establish a rapport, and steal money. The messages start out as basic greetings - or job opportunities - and then progress into requests for money or data.

June 18, 2020

Vulnerability in iOS Mail App

Summary

The Information Security Office is aware of published reports that there are flaws in the built-in Mail app on iPhones. These flaws reportedly allow attackers to get remote access in the context of the Mail app without any interaction on the users part. [1]

June 8, 2020

Policies Currently in Campus Review

The Information Security Office currently has two policies in Campus review until mid-June. We invite comments on the proposed new Roles and Responsibilities Policy and our Minimum Security Standards for Networked Devices (MSSND) Draft.

June 5, 2020

Phishing Example: Congratulations! You're Hired
These are targeted and simple forms of phishing emails designed to get victims to interact, establish a rapport, and steal money. The messages start out as basic greetings - or job opportunities - and then progress into requests for money or data.

June 3, 2020

Phishing Example: Student Part-Time Job
These are targeted and simple forms of phishing emails designed to get victims to interact and establish a rapport. The messages start out as basic greetings or job opportunities and then progress into requests for money or data.

May 21, 2020

Resurgence of Ransomware in Higher Ed

Ransomware is not new; but, it's been popping up more and more in higher ed. Each week brings news of colleges and universities that have fallen victim to ransomware attacks. Some hackers demand payment, while others steal personal data (to sell to identity thieves). Whatever the motives are, school systems around the country have been the targets of recent attacks.

May 12, 2020

New CIS Benchmark-Based GPO Templates Now Available

The CalNet AD team has created several Group Policy Objects (GPOs) templates for system administrators to utilize. These templates, or Build Kits, are based on the Center for Internet Security’s (CIS) benchmarks and allow for quick and easy implementation of CIS Benchmark configurations.