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You must have a )] TJ ET BT 61.016 577.870 Td 0.000 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(strong password to keep your personal life personal, and not become a victim of identity theft.)] TJ ET 0.153 0.153 0.153 RG 85.866 560.697 m 85.866 561.110 85.696 561.520 85.404 561.811 c 85.113 562.103 84.703 562.272 84.291 562.272 c 83.878 562.272 83.469 562.103 83.177 561.811 c 82.885 561.520 82.716 561.110 82.716 560.697 c 82.716 560.285 82.885 559.875 83.177 559.584 c 83.469 559.292 83.878 559.122 84.291 559.122 c 84.703 559.122 85.113 559.292 85.404 559.584 c 85.696 559.875 85.866 560.285 85.866 560.697 c f BT 91.016 557.881 Td 1.403 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(Using email or your profile on Facebook, Whatsapp or Google, hackers can and do, extract a huge amount of )] TJ ET BT 91.016 546.892 Td 0.000 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(personal data of your personal "online" life.)] TJ ET 85.866 538.719 m 85.866 539.132 85.696 539.542 85.404 539.833 c 85.113 540.125 84.703 540.294 84.291 540.294 c 83.878 540.294 83.469 540.125 83.177 539.833 c 82.885 539.542 82.716 539.132 82.716 538.719 c 82.716 538.307 82.885 537.897 83.177 537.606 c 83.469 537.314 83.878 537.144 84.291 537.144 c 84.703 537.144 85.113 537.314 85.404 537.606 c 85.696 537.897 85.866 538.307 85.866 538.719 c f BT 91.016 535.903 Td 0.513 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(If you use the same password for multiple online accounts, you run the risk, if this password is hacked, of all your )] TJ ET BT 91.016 524.914 Td 0.000 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(online accounts being compromised.)] TJ ET 85.866 516.741 m 85.866 517.154 85.696 517.564 85.404 517.855 c 85.113 518.147 84.703 518.316 84.291 518.316 c 83.878 518.316 83.469 518.147 83.177 517.855 c 82.885 517.564 82.716 517.154 82.716 516.741 c 82.716 516.329 82.885 515.919 83.177 515.628 c 83.469 515.336 83.878 515.166 84.291 515.166 c 84.703 515.166 85.113 515.336 85.404 515.628 c 85.696 515.919 85.866 516.329 85.866 516.741 c f BT 91.016 513.925 Td 0.739 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(Using a personal name for an online account, the name of the city that you live in, the names of your children or )] TJ ET BT 91.016 502.936 Td 0.000 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(your date of birth, give hackers vital clues for attempting to access your personal data.)] TJ ET 85.866 494.763 m 85.866 495.176 85.696 495.586 85.404 495.877 c 85.113 496.169 84.703 496.338 84.291 496.338 c 83.878 496.338 83.469 496.169 83.177 495.877 c 82.885 495.586 82.716 495.176 82.716 494.763 c 82.716 494.351 82.885 493.941 83.177 493.650 c 83.469 493.358 83.878 493.188 84.291 493.188 c 84.703 493.188 85.113 493.358 85.404 493.650 c 85.696 493.941 85.866 494.351 85.866 494.763 c f BT 91.016 491.947 Td 1.239 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(For an average expert hacker, it is always easy to find passwords that are made up of words from the English )] TJ ET BT 91.016 480.958 Td 0.000 Tw /F4 9.0 Tf [(vocabulary or other languages, using a basic technique called "brute force" or "dictionary" attacks.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 457.999 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(What makes a password safe?)] TJ ET BT 78.360 438.026 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(1.)] TJ ET BT 91.016 438.010 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(A password at least 8 characters long.)] TJ ET BT 78.360 427.037 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(2.)] TJ ET BT 91.016 427.021 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The password does not contain information that is easy to find online, such as the date of birth, the telephone )] TJ ET BT 91.016 416.032 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(number, your spouses name, the name of a pet, or a childs name.)] TJ ET BT 78.360 405.059 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(3.)] TJ ET BT 91.016 405.043 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The password does not contain words found in the dictionary.)] TJ ET BT 78.360 394.070 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(4.)] TJ ET BT 91.016 394.054 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The password contains special characters like @ # $% ^ &, and numbers.)] TJ ET BT 78.360 383.081 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(5.)] TJ ET BT 91.016 383.065 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The password uses a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 360.106 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(A trick that the experts use to create secure passwords:)] TJ ET BT 61.016 340.117 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Think of a phrase and use the first letters of the words in the phrase.)] TJ ET 85.866 322.944 m 85.866 323.357 85.696 323.767 85.404 324.058 c 85.113 324.350 84.703 324.519 84.291 324.519 c 83.878 324.519 83.469 324.350 83.177 324.058 c 82.885 323.767 82.716 323.357 82.716 322.944 c 82.716 322.532 82.885 322.122 83.177 321.831 c 83.469 321.539 83.878 321.369 84.291 321.369 c 84.703 321.369 85.113 321.539 85.404 321.831 c 85.696 322.122 85.866 322.532 85.866 322.944 c f BT 91.016 320.128 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(For example: )] TJ ET BT 146.033 320.128 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [("In South Africa, a barbecue is called a Braai!")] TJ ET 85.866 311.955 m 85.866 312.368 85.696 312.778 85.404 313.069 c 85.113 313.361 84.703 313.530 84.291 313.530 c 83.878 313.530 83.469 313.361 83.177 313.069 c 82.885 312.778 82.716 312.368 82.716 311.955 c 82.716 311.543 82.885 311.133 83.177 310.842 c 83.469 310.550 83.878 310.380 84.291 310.380 c 84.703 310.380 85.113 310.550 85.404 310.842 c 85.696 311.133 85.866 311.543 85.866 311.955 c f BT 91.016 309.139 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Take the first letters of each word and the password that is created is )] TJ ET BT 368.144 309.139 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(ISAabicaB!)] TJ ET 85.866 300.966 m 85.866 301.379 85.696 301.789 85.404 302.080 c 85.113 302.372 84.703 302.541 84.291 302.541 c 83.878 302.541 83.469 302.372 83.177 302.080 c 82.885 301.789 82.716 301.379 82.716 300.966 c 82.716 300.554 82.885 300.144 83.177 299.853 c 83.469 299.561 83.878 299.391 84.291 299.391 c 84.703 299.391 85.113 299.561 85.404 299.853 c 85.696 300.144 85.866 300.554 85.866 300.966 c f BT 91.016 298.150 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(This will be very difficult to guess, but easy to remember.)] TJ ET 85.866 289.977 m 85.866 290.390 85.696 290.800 85.404 291.091 c 85.113 291.383 84.703 291.552 84.291 291.552 c 83.878 291.552 83.469 291.383 83.177 291.091 c 82.885 290.800 82.716 290.390 82.716 289.977 c 82.716 289.565 82.885 289.155 83.177 288.864 c 83.469 288.572 83.878 288.402 84.291 288.402 c 84.703 288.402 85.113 288.572 85.404 288.864 c 85.696 289.155 85.866 289.565 85.866 289.977 c f BT 91.016 287.161 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(At this point, you can decide to make your the Google password is )] TJ ET BT 357.146 287.161 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(ISAabicaB!-G)] TJ ET BT 414.656 287.161 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(, and Facebook )] TJ ET BT 481.697 287.161 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(ISAabicaB!-F)] TJ ET BT 91.016 276.172 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(and your university account )] TJ ET BT 205.568 276.172 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(ISAabicaB!-U)] TJ ET BT 262.574 276.172 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(S and so on.)] TJ ET 85.866 267.999 m 85.866 268.412 85.696 268.822 85.404 269.113 c 85.113 269.405 84.703 269.574 84.291 269.574 c 83.878 269.574 83.469 269.405 83.177 269.113 c 82.885 268.822 82.716 268.412 82.716 267.999 c 82.716 267.587 82.885 267.177 83.177 266.886 c 83.469 266.594 83.878 266.424 84.291 266.424 c 84.703 266.424 85.113 266.594 85.404 266.886 c 85.696 267.177 85.866 267.587 85.866 267.999 c f BT 91.016 265.183 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(There is already a capital letter and a special character )] TJ ET BT 312.110 265.183 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(\(!\))] TJ ET BT 321.101 265.183 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(, so you just need to add a number to finish off a good )] TJ ET BT 91.016 254.194 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(password like )] TJ ET BT 148.031 254.194 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(9-ISAabicaB!-US)] TJ ET BT 221.543 254.194 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(\(9 could be the month you created the password in - for example\))] TJ ET BT 61.016 234.205 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(You will have already made your password a lot more difficult to hack, and it can be a lot of fun to create.)] TJ ET 0.400 0.400 0.400 rg BT 61.016 215.716 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(Posted in:News,Phishing,Security,Tips | Tagged:Cyberaware,Cybersecurity,Password,Passwords,Phishing | With 0 )] TJ ET BT 61.016 204.727 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(comments)] TJ ET q 225.000 0 0 135.000 61.016 493.628 cm /I1 Do Q endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype 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Phishing with subject “Email Expired”

Thursday, February 1st, 2018

Several students and personnel have informed us of a “new” mail making its rounds on our campuses.

The sender is “Postmaster” with the subject of “Email Expired”. This phishing scam tells you that your e-mail account will shortly expire and uses scare tactics to convince you to “click” on a link to activate your email.

Information Technology will never send you this type of email, ask you to click on a link or provide your username or password. Do not respond to these emails or click on links.

If you have received mail that looks like this please immediately report it to the Information Technology Security Team using the following method:

Send the spam/phishing mail to the following addresses

help@sun.ac.za and sysadm@sun.ac.za.

Attach the phishing or suspicious mail on to the message if possible. There is a good tutorial on how to do this at the following link (Which is safe) : http://stbsp01.stb.sun.ac.za/innov/it/it-help/Wiki%20Pages/Spam%20sysadmin%20Eng.aspx

  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.)

IT has set up a website page with useful information on how to report and combat phishing and spam. The address is: https://blogs.sun.ac.za/it/en/2017/11/reporting-spam-malware-and-phishing/

 

[Article by David Wiles]

 

PHISHING: “Your Email Account Has Been Compromise”

Monday, January 29th, 2018

Please be aware that there are e-mails being sent from an outside e-mail address (@lasell.edu) with the subject  “Your Email Account Has Been Compromise” (including capitalisation of every word and a spelling mistake at the end)

The mail contains only the following:

Verify HERE

This is a phishing scam. Information Technology will never send an email like this, ask you to provide your username or password or require you to click on a link in an e-mail.

Here is an example of the phishing mail:


Many people, including students and staff can be easily fooled and manipulated by the social engineering tricks of the phishing scammers.

Once they fall victim to this phishing scam and the scammers have control of an university account, they will stop using the outside e-mail address.

Don’t become one of these victims. If you receive and e-mail with the subject “Your Email Account Has Been Compromise” and it seems that comes from a university account (like a student number, or even a known university colleague), do not respond to it, forward it or click on the link.

Report it to Information Technology’s Cyber-Security Team (details below) and then delete or move it in your Junk E-mail folder. You can use the Rules function in Outlook and Office365 Mail to delete all mail with those subject lines or senders.

Here are the instructions again:

If you have received mail that looks like this please immediately report it to Information Technology using the following method:

Send the spam/phishing mail to help@sun.ac.za and sysadm@sun.ac.za.

Attach the phishing or suspicious mail on to the message if possible. There is a good tutorial on how to do this at the following link (Which is safe): http://stbsp01.stb.sun.ac.za/innov/it/it-help/Wiki%20Pages/Spam%20sysadmin%20Eng.aspx

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.)

IT have set up a website page with useful information on how to report and combat phishing and spam. The address is: https://blogs.sun.ac.za/it/en/2017/11/reporting-spam-malware-and-phishing/

 

[ARTICLE by David Wiles]

Protect your personal information

Monday, January 29th, 2018

Data Privacy Day, occurring every year on 28 January, is an international effort to empower individuals and business to respect privacy, safeguard data and enable trust. 

Over the past year the world saw many extensive data breaches across the world. This has accentuated the necessity for creating a greater awareness of protecting information. 

But why should we care about our information?

We are entering the next generation of technological advancement like the Internet of Things, which will connect devices in our schools, home and workplaces. This provides many opportunities, but consumers will have to learn to protect and secure their information. Your devices make it easy to connect to the world around you, but they can also track a lot of information about you and your family. 

How much information do you share online daily? We spend most of our day on the internet where all our actions are tracked and collected by the devices we use. This data is stored indefinitely and can be used at any time. 

The National Cyber Security Alliance in the United States have the following tips:

  1. Personal info is like money: value it, protect it. 
    Be thoughtful about who gets your information and how it’s collected through apps and websites. Delete unused apps, update others and review your app permissions.
  2. Share with care.
    Think before posting about yourself and others online. Review your social network friends and contact lists regularly.
  3. Own your online presence.
    Set the privacy and security settings on websites and apps. You can share information with only friends and family.
  4. Lock down your login.
    Make sure your accounts are secure. Don’t use a password only for bank accounts, email and social media. Use two-step authentication, bio-metrics or security keys.
  5. Keep a clean machine.
    Keep your software, operating systems (mobile and PC), anti-virus and apps updated to prevent data loss, infections and malware.
  6. Apply the golden rule. 
    Post only about others as you would have them post about you.
  7. Secure your devices.
    Every device should be secured with a password or strong authentication – finger swipe, facial recognition, etc. Imagine what someone could do with the information on your device if it got lost?
  8. Think before you app.
    Information about you, such as the games you like to play, your contact lists, where you shop and your location has tremendous value. Apps collect this information. A recent example is activity-tracking app, Strava’s privacy issue. 

FACT AND STATISTICS

  • 41% of Americans have been personally subjected to harassing behaviour online and one in five (18%) has been subjected to particularly severe forms of harassment online. 
  • 82% of cyber-stalkers use social media to find out where their potential victims live, where they go to school, etc.
  • Four in five US physicians have had cyber-attacks in their practices. Keep in mind that medical and health information is among the most sensitive and personal information about people. 

 

[SOURCE: https://staysafeonline.org and www.wikipedia.org]

OneDrive for Business: Anonymous file sharing

Monday, January 22nd, 2018

Information Technology recently assessed our OneDrive for Business platform to ensure that no security risks exist for our users and network. During this assessment we identified a number of users who are currently using the anonymous sharing function (“Anyone with the link can view and edit”) on OneDrive.

With anonymous file sharing there is no control or record of who has access to the shared files. Anybody who has the link can access and/or edit the files. This poses a security risk for the University and our users. For this reason we are compelled to switch off anonymous usage.

From Thursday, 1 February 2018 you will no longer be able to share files anonymously on OneDrive. Sharing will still be possible with internal and external users, but at a higher security level.

Guides on best practices for sharing files on OneDrive is available www.sun.ac.za/itselfhelp under the Office365 section or directly on this page. If you are have any enquiries, please contact the IT Service Desk by emailing help@sun.ac.za or calling our Service Desk at 808 4367.

Phishing: PSG “Your profile details will expire”

Monday, January 22nd, 2018

There is currently a phishing email making the rounds claiming to be from PSG Wealth.

Be on the lookout for an email requesting you to update your personal information, as your PSG online “profile details will expire”. The link redirects users to a page that looks like the PSG securities trading website, but is a clever forgery.

PSG have assured us that they will never send you an email asking to provide sensitive information online. So it is important to check the validity of any such emails before you respond to requests like these.

Below is an example of one such mail:

There are 3 obvious signs that this mail is fraudulent:

  • The sender´s email address (`from´ address) is disguised to look like it comes from PSG Wealth. The message is actually sent from a different address that does not match our PSG email addresses (using an @psg.com.sa address instead of an @psg.co.za address).
  • The recipient is not specified.
  • The website link provided is not to a PSG domain address and the website is not indicated as being secure. (no little padlock icon or https: in the URL)

What should you do if you have already provided your details in responding to this phishing scam?

If you responded to such an email, login to your account by typing psg.co.za into your browser window and reset your password immediately.

Continue to monitor your account for any unauthorised transactions and alert PSG immediately if you note any suspicious transactions.

Avoid becoming a victim in future: (This applies to all phishing scams, not just this fraudulent scam)

  • Type in website addresses – do not follow links embedded in emails.
  • Do not reuse passwords, especially for financial sites. 
  • Do not click on attachments, unless you know who they are from and are expecting the document in question.
  • Never part with your login details.

If you are not sure that a request for information is legitimate, rather contact the company to verify its authenticity.

~~~

Report the spam/phishing mail to the following addresses:
help@sun.ac.za and sysadm@sun.ac.za. 

Attach the phishing or suspicious mail on to the message if possible. There is a good tutorial on how to do this at the following link (which is safe) : http://stbsp01.stb.sun.ac.za/innov/it/it-help/Wiki%20Pages/Spam%20sysadmin%20Eng.aspx
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.

[Article by David Wiles]

 

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