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Warning: Phishing scams with fake invoices

Monday, October 1st, 2018

The nature of the university as an academic institution means that goods like books and academic journals are purchased by staff.

Phishing scammers will often exploit these purchases by either spoofing the e-mail addresses of well-known publishers or sending “invoices” that are infected with malware to fool people into divulging personal details like passwords and bank account details, or more seriously, infecting their victim’s computers with ransomware which encrypts the contents of the hard drive and demands a ransom to unlock access to the encrypted files.

Last week several colleagues reported that they were getting invoices from a journal publisher for books they allegedly purchased. An invoice for books purchased is usually attached.

Here is an example of the phishing scam:

Please keep an eye open for this threat over the next few days. We have been reading reports of a drastic increase in the incidents of ransomware infections targeting large institutions like universities. Keep on your toes, these criminals will never stop trying, because they catch their victims from the university so easily. Don’t become a victim. Fight them by reporting these scams to the IT CyberSecurity Team, and by spreading the news to your colleagues and classmates.

 If you have received mail that looks like this please immediately report it to the Information Technology Security Team using the following method: (especially if it comes from a university address) Once you have reported it, delete it or put it in your Junk Mail folder.

  1. Start up a new mail addressed to csirt@sun.ac.za, cc sysadm@sun.ac.za.
  2. Use the Title “SPAM” (without quotes) in the Subject.
  3. With this New Mail window open, drag the suspicious spam/phishing mail from your Inbox into the New Mail Window. It will attach the mail as an enclosure and a small icon with a light yellow envelope will appear in the attachments section of the New Mail.
  4. Send the mail.

[ARTICLE BY DAVID WILES]

 

SARS phishing scam from sun email

Monday, August 13th, 2018

If you receive an email with the subject “SARS eFilings” from any university email account, do not respond or click on the link. This is not a legitimate email from SARS.

The suspicious email is being sent from compromised staff email accounts informing users that “An EMP Statement of Account for the tax payer listed below has been issued by SARS” and you “need to log into the google doc with your correct details to view the document”. (as shown in example below):

It is important that you help us by spreading the word, informing us about suspicious mails and letting your colleagues and friends know about the scams. You are our eyes and ears, and your input, information and questions are extremely valuable.

When you click on links and provide your information on phishing emails, criminals will be able to gain access to your personal information. If you clicked on the link of this phishing email, immediately go to the www.sun.ac.za/useradm website and change the passwords on all your university accounts.

Remember that once the phishers lose control of one compromised account they might simply move over to another account and they might also close the website they were using once it is blocked by us and would use another one that looks and acts in the same way. Currently, the phishers are servers in Europe to launch their attacks. This is a common tactic with a spear-phishing attack such as this. 

To help us, please:

  • continue to watch out for mail like or similar to this and do NOT respond to it, click on links or provide your email address username or password
  • report the new phishing mail to the correct e-mail addresses of Information Technology Cyber Security using the method added to the bottom of this post
  • remember, just because a mail comes from a “student” or a “personnel” e-mail address and has university branding does not mean in any way that it is legitimate

If you have received mail that looks like this please immediately report it to the Information Technology Security Team using the following method: (especially if it comes from a university address)

  1. Start up a new mail addressed to sysadm@sun.ac.za (CC: help@sun.ac.za)
  2. Use the Title “SPAM” (without quotes) in the Subject.
  3. With this New Mail window open, drag the suspicious spam/phishing mail from your Inbox into the New Mail Window. It will attach the mail as an enclosure and a small icon with a light yellow envelope will appear in the attachments section of the New Mail.
  4. Send the mail.

IF YOU HAVE FALLEN FOR THE SCAM:

If you did click on the link of this phishing spam and unwittingly give the scammers your username, e-mail address and password you should immediately go to http://www.sun.ac.za/useradm and change the passwords on ALL your university accounts (making sure the new password is completely different, and is a strong password that will not be easily guessed.) as well as changing the passwords on your social media and private e-mail accounts (especially if you use the same passwords on these accounts.)

For more information on reporting and combating phishing and spam: https://blogs.sun.ac.za/it/en/2017/11/reporting-spam-malware-and-phishing/

[Information supplied by David Wiles]

 

GDPR: Protecting your data

Tuesday, July 31st, 2018

The international law of data protection has changed and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect on the 25 May 2018. There is a great deal of information on GDPR. Unfortunately, a lot of it is legal jargon, which can be overwhelming if you are not a legal expert.

The South African equivalent to GDPR is the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA); which has not been finalised yet. This article will explain GDPR, compliance requirements and the key benefits and challenges involved in its implementation.

Quick overview

GDPR is a law that governs data usage, user privacy rights, data risk management and data security systems within private and public organisations. It highlights the rights of individuals, which are 

  1. to control how personal data is collected and managed; and
  2. to place new obligations on organisations to be more accountable for data protection.

Complying with GDPR is not a simple task, and neither will be complying with South Africa’s own Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). However, it is unavoidable and cannot be ignored. Managing data privacy is a serious issue. Until the South African Regulations are finalised and enforced, local companies are encouraged to look to the GDPR for guidance. Whilst there are some differences between POPIA and GDPR in requirements, the principles are similar.

How does an organisation comply?

  • Raise awareness

Decision makers and key people in the organisation need to be aware that the law has changed to include GDPR, and need to understand its impact on data management.

  • Information held

An information audit, which includes any personal data held by individuals within the organisation, has to be done. The audit will establish which information the organisation has, who it’s shared with and where it came from.

  • Communication privacy

Review your privacy notices and governance, identify gaps and prepare for the changes required when implementing GDPR.

  • Individual rights

Make sure procedures cover each individual’s rights, including deleting personal data and providing data electronically in all commonly used formats.

  • Subject access requests

Update data management procedures, prepare for handling requests from consumers within the new time-frame and provide additional information.

  • Legalities when processing personal data

Understand the different data processing types, the way the organisation performs and identify the legal basis for carrying out and documenting it appropriately.

  • Consent

The way the organisation seeks, obtains and determines consent may need to be reviewed and changed.

  • Protecting children’s data

Systems to verify ages and can seek parental/guardian consent for a data processing activities should be designed and developed.

  • Data breaches

Procedures for both the customer and regulator need to be in place to detect, report and investigate a personal data breach.

  • Data protection by design

Assessments and control frameworks have to be developed with guidance from the regulator. Processes need to be developed and have governance for their use.

  • Data Protection Officers

Data Protection Officers or a similar role should be appointed to take responsibility for data protection compliance. The organisation has to decide who fits this role best.

  • International work

If the organisation works internationally, it is important to establish which data protection authority is most appropriate and where processors and controllers are located.

Some benefits of GDPR compliance

  • Greater consumer confidence

          GDPR compliance will prove to customers that your organisation is a good custodian of their data. 

  • Improved data security

GDPR compliance lays the groundwork for improved data security.

  • Reduced data maintenance costs

GDPR can help your organisation cut costs by prompting you to retire any data inventory software and legacy applications which are no longer relevant to your business.

  • Increased alignment with evolving technology

GDPR compliance requires that your organisation moves toward improving its network, endpoint, and application security.

  • Better decision-making 

Thanks to the GDPR, your organisation’s data will become more consolidated, ensuring it’s easier to use and you have a greater understanding of its underlying value.

Challenges of GDPR compliance

  • Endless consent prompts for every data process can be time-consuming.
  • High cost to reach GDPR compliance (e.g. in terms of upgrading security systems).
  • More work for developers in terms of upgrading security systems.
  • Massive fines for non-compliance, which amounts to 4% of the organisation’s annual turnover.

GDPR integration in SU IT Department

In many ways, Stellenbosch University’s Information Technology Department has been implementing data and security laws and regulations such as GDPR and POPIA for years.

We are constantly reminding users on our blog and social media to keep their passwords protected and not leave their PC’s unlocked and unattended. We are the first to alert users via email with regards to phishing attacks and send out warnings on a regular basis. We have also moved toward cloud storage and are happy to say, Microsoft is GDPR compliant. Users have been encouraged to use OneDrive for data storage as it is more secure.

Information security is important, therefore we will continue to convey the importance to our users. There is also an Information Security Awareness Training Course available on SUNLearn

In conclusion, GDPR is beneficial to South African organisations in many ways. Since South African organisations deal with large and sensitive amounts of data, GDPR compliance is required and may reduce security threats and data loss to a large degree. Although this law appears to solve and manage data management issues, there is still limited information regarding their long-term sustainability and among South African users. 

More detailed information on EU GDPR guidelines for South African Universities can be found in this document compiled by Universities South Africa (USAf), an association of South Africa’s public universities.

[ARTICLE BY MILLY VAN WYHE]

Warning: Phishing scam exploiting ABSA new logo

Tuesday, July 17th, 2018

Many of you use ABSA as your bank of choice, as well as making use of ABSA Bank’s Internet Banking facilities, so this warning might be of particular significance.

Earlier this month ABSA announced a new logo – part of its rebranding campaign – and almost immediately phishing scammers exploited this opportunity to continue their nefarious campaign of identity theft through phishing email attacks.

Several users have reported getting the following email – allegedly from ABSA – taking advantage of the new logo to target the bank’s customers in a phishing email scam by attempting to trick users to click on a link to take them to a fake website.

The scam email states that it comes from Absa CEO Maria Ramos, but it’s actually from an outside source and informs victims that “today marks a very significant day in the Absa journey”. The email uses Absa’s slogan, saying “We are also launching a new, fresh and vibrant Absa logo and identity that reflects our commitment to you, our customers”. Potential victims are then encouraged to click on their “New Absa eStatements” in PDF format. This is not a statement, but an HTML file which takes users to a phishing website.

Here is one example of the phishing e-mail which has already appeared in several University email accounts, as well as personal home email accounts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, you should never respond to a suspicious looking email or message or click on a link in any suspicious looking email. Rather delete the email. No South African bank will ever contact customers and request sensitive information (card PIN, card CVV or online banking password) via email, telephone or SMS.

If you have received a phishing email, immediately report it to the Information Technology CyberSecurity Team using the following method:
 
1. Start up a new mail addressed to sysadm@sun.ac.za (CC: help@sun.ac.za)
2. Use the Title “SPAM” (without quotes) in the Subject.
3. With this New Mail window open, drag the suspicious spam/phishing mail from your Inbox into the New Mail Window. It will attach the mail as an enclosure and a small icon with a light yellow envelope will appear in the attachments section of the New Mail.
4. Send the mail.

IF YOU HAVE FALLEN FOR THE SCAM:
If you did click on the link of a phishing spam and unwittingly gave the scammers your username, email address and password  immediately go to http://www.sun.ac.za/useradm and change the passwords on ALL your university accounts (making sure the new password is completely different and is a strong password that will not be easily guessed.), as well as changing the passwords on your social media and private email accounts (especially if you use the same passwords on these accounts.)
 
Useful information on how to report and combat phishing and spam can also be found on our blog

[ARTICLE BY DAVID WILES]

Phishing attempt from SUN email address

Monday, June 25th, 2018

If you receive an email with the subject “Mailbox” or “Urgent Alert !!” from a university account, do not respond to it or click on the link. This is not a legitimate email from Information Technology.

We have received reports that a suspicious email is being sent out from a university account informing users that their email has exceeded its storage limit and they have to click on a link to “avoid blockage or deactivation”(As shown in example)

If you follow the link and give your information, it will be used by phishing criminals to gain access to your personal information, including your bank details. If you did click on the link of this phishing email, immediately go to the www.sun.ac.za/useradm website and change the passwords on all your university accounts.

If you have any inquiries, please let us know by logging a request or calling our Service Desk at 808 4367. 

 

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