• Be Cyber Smart

     

  • Fight The Phish

     

  • Social Media Never Click and Tell

     

  • Think Before You Click
     

Required Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Training

During the first week of October all employees will receive an email from WCU Office of Information Security to complete a training module called "WCU 2024-2025 KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training - 30 minutes " which is hosted on KnowBe4, WCU's Information Cybersecurity Awareness Training and management platform. Employees should complete the module by Friday, December 6, 2024.

Employees will gain access to the required training on October 2nd and will be able to access it here: Employee KnowBe4 Training. Employees in need of a computer or a space to complete the module should contact the Faculty & Staff Training office (fast@wcupa.edu) for accommodations.

Self-Paced cybersecurity awareness training materials for students are available on D2L in a site called Navigating Digital Learning.

Stay Cybersafe

It is important to remember to Be Cyber Smart and Think Before You Click. Bad actors are intensifying their efforts to trick unsuspecting users into scams that can steal your credentials, inject malware onto devices, or obtain credit card information by falsely selling products.  Common phishing message types include impersonation messages (posing as a professor, colleague or friend), fake job offer scams and false “Shared Document” notifications. Bad actors have even begun to utilize QR codes in emails to circumvent common email security filters and trick targets into visiting malicious websites. Higher education institutions are often targeted especially when users are focused on exams and projects and less likely to spot a scam.

Things to consider to navigate safely and securely:

        • Think before you click. If an email looks suspicious or an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is.
        • Don’t fall for fake delivery notifications or text messages.

Security University

IS&T encourages everyone to take increased ownership of enhanced online activity and the important security practices that come along with it. The virtual safety of our community, and, ultimately, our nation, depends on our personal online safety practices. Cybersecurity is important to West Chester University and we are committed to helping our faculty, staff and students become more resilient.

Stay Protected While Connected

Before you connect to any open/public wireless network (like at an airport, hotel, or cafe) be sure to confirm the name of the network and exact login procedures to ensure that the network is legitimate. If you use an unsecured public access point, practice good internet hygiene by avoiding sensitive activities (banking and shopping) that require passwords or credit cards. Using a personal hotspot or cellular data is often a safer alternative to free Wi-Fi. Only use sites that begin with "https://" when online shopping or banking.West Chester University's RamNet WiFi is a secured network. It is secured by an enterprise network authentication protocol called 802.1X. Using this protocol, all network traffic, including usernames and passwords, are encrypted during transmission. During the connection process, usernames and passwords are checked to verify that the user is an active member of the WCU community. Once confirmed, appropriate network access is assigned based off network needs and requirements. Remember, free Wifi could cost you .

Fight the Phish

Play hard to get with strangers.
Cyber criminals use phishing tactics hoping to fool their victims. If you are unsure who an email is from (even if the details appear accurate) or if the email looks "phishy" do not respond and do not click on any links or attachments found in that email. When available use the "report Phish" or "Report" option to help your organization or email provider block other suspicious emails before the arrive in your inbox.

Check the Phish Bowl for a list of recent email messages that have been confirmed as malicious or fraudulent by Information Security.

Deny a Duo login approval request if you did not initiate it.
Imagine you are getting coffee with friends and you receive a Duo Multifactor authentication request on your phone. You suspect that it is fraudulent because you are not trying to log into any systems or accounts. What should you do? You should deny the request. 

Social Media Cybersecurity Tips

Never Click and Tell. 
Limit what information you post on social media. Popular quizzes often ask users a series of shareable personal questions, ranging from the name of their pet, childhood best friend, first grade teacher or their birth city. Some people see them as a fun way to bond with friends, but many of these queries are similar if not identical to security questions used when setting up accounts at banks and other organizations. Keep Social Security numbers, account numbers, and passwords private as well as specific information about yourself such as your full name, address, birthday, etc.

Social Media Cybersecurity

Think Cybersecurity First

Cybersecurity is a year-round effort and staying safe online is increasingly important as our world continues to operate virtually for so much of work and play.  We should all approach cybersecurity with care in owning, securing, and protecting all our online accounts, data and information. West Chester University offers these resources that you can utilize to keep yourself safe online:

  • CISA’s Cyber Essentials – basic cyber best practices for business leaders: cisa.gov/cyber-essentials
  • Learn about careers in cyber with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies: niccs.cisa.gov

*National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) content is copyrighted and reproduced under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 or Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Security University. Never tell anyone your password. Keep it unique. Don't reuse your password with other accounts. Use both lower and upper case letters and special characters. Password statistics. Use phrases harder to guess and easier to remember. The #koala walks the moon w/ croi55ant! Set up duo. Use milti-factor authentication. Always logout or lock your device.

Information Security Tools @WCU

WCU has various methods of offering Information Security and Privacy programs. Information Security can only be achieved with lots of layers (like an onion.) One of those layers is the concept we sometimes call the "Human Firewall." Many times this is the first layer that protects the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and IT services. This means YOU. However, in order to make that achievable, WCU has provided a few services and educational opportunities to assist you.

DUO Multi-Factor Authentication

DUO Multi-Factor Authentication protects your digital identity from being compromised even if your password is exposed to bad actors. 

Mimecast Email Security Gateway

Mimecast is an email filtering service that sits between you and your WCU email account. Mimecast is designed to help protect your account from Unsolicited Email (Spam), Phishing Attempts and Malware.

Cybereason

Cybereason is an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) system that detects suspicious activity, uncovering attackers’ behavior patterns and empowering IS&T to detect and stop emerging attacks. As part of a multi-pronged approach to enhance endpoint security monitoring, all university owned laptops and desktops now require an application called Cybereason.

Phishing Simulations

Phishing simulations help users learn to recognize, avoid, and report potential threats that can compromise accounts, critical business data and systems. Just one compromised account can put valuable computing resources and sensitive institutional or personal data at risk of exposure. Even accounts with limited or no access to confidential material can be weaponized to attack and compromise additional user’s accounts until one with sufficient privileges is targeted and taken over. Every account matters.

PhishBowl

If you receive a suspicious email, you can visit The Phish Bowl to view a list of latest phishing attempts. If the email is posted, then the email has already been reported, and you can simply delete the email. How to Spot and report a Phish or Spam email.

Phishing Red Flags:
For your safety and security, please consider the following red flags if you receive a job via email that is not coming from Handshake, or from a professor, student, or staff member at the university that you know and trust.

  • Is a personal assistant job, or a job where the employer is not named
  • Comes from an email address that doesn’t match the company’s name
  • Does not provide information, such as the title of the person sending the email, the employer’s address or phone number, etc.
  • Offers to pay a large amount of money for not much work
  • Offers you the job without interviewing you
  • Asks you to pay an application fee or some other fee as a condition of starting employment
  • Wants you to transfer money from one account to another, by wire service, courier or other means, or deposit a check that they send you
  • Requests your bank account or credit card information

Remember:
No legitimate employer will send payment in advance and ask you to send a portion of it back to them. These jobs are often posted as a personal assistant or administrative assistant and ask for assistance in depositing checks or doing mystery shopping. These checks are fraudulent and can end up costing you hundreds of dollars.

Video: Fridays with Frans, Avoid Job Scams