Cybersecurity Awareness

Double your privacy, double your fun

September 6, 2019

(Only those old enough to remember the Wrigley's doublemint gum commercials will get this title.)

“Multi-factor authentication” is a tech industry term for using different types of verification to get into an account. You do this daily with the 2-Step. The idea is that you use multiple things at the same time to really prove that you’re actually you. A password is one example of a factor; a fingerprint is another.

Multi-factor authentication makes it much harder for attackers to break into people’s accounts. If they have a password but not the other factor that they need,...

Read more about Double your privacy, double your fun

No peeking! Staying safe and private on Wi-Fi

September 6, 2019

Wi-Fi is great. Think about it, you pretty much carry an entire library and a direct line to anywhere in the world in your pocket. Nowadays many businesses offer Wi-Fi for their customers, so you can stay connected even while eating udon or waiting in line for toast.

But! That doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Using public Wi-Fi is sort of like doing, well, anything else in public: you want to be safe and not accidentally wander into trouble. Let’s talk about what you can do to protect yourself on Wi-Fi.

When you’re on public Wi-Fi, never access anything private. Accessing sports...

Read more about No peeking! Staying safe and private on Wi-Fi

Why Should We Care About Online Privacy?

January 20, 2020

Casey Hennig

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. Even seemingly innocuous information – such as your favorite restaurants or items you purchase can be used to make inferences about your socioeconomic status,...

Read more about Why Should We Care About Online Privacy?

Data Privacy and You

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.

It is important to...

Read more about Data Privacy and You

Resurgence of Ransomware in Higher Ed

May 21, 2020

Casey Hennig

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.

Here are four things you can do to protect yourself: 1. Back it up. Daily.

Use a...

Read more about Resurgence of Ransomware in Higher Ed

Preventing Social Engineering Attacks

August 18, 2020

Casey Hennig

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.

Read more about Preventing Social Engineering Attacks

Why Reusing Passwords is a Bad Idea

April 16, 2021

"I have a really great passphrase, it's long and easy to remember, so I use it on all my accounts."

Sound familiar? Why is it so hard for us to abandon this idea that reusing passphrases is a bad idea? Well, we're humans and humans tend to rationalize to confirm our decisions. "What are the chances that someone will get my password and compromise my account, I mean, will that really happen to me?" Well, it turns out it does - and more frequently that you might imagine.

According to...