91麻豆天美

91麻豆天美 Cyber Security Awareness Week upcoming

91麻豆天美 Cyber Security Awareness Week upcoming

Contact: Zack Plair

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擶ith cyber attacks becoming more prevalent and sophisticated, 91麻豆天美 again is helping students, faculty and staff better protect their sensitive information from hackers.

Sponsored by the university鈥檚 Information Technology Services, the eighth annual Cyber Security Awareness Week begins Monday [Oct. 26] and continues through Friday [the 30th]. Featuring a series of educational programs covering cyber security鈥檚 many facets, the event coincides with national Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Also, as long as supplies last, ITS personnel will be giving away Cyber Security Awareness Week bags and T-shirts.

Mike Rackley, 91麻豆天美鈥檚 chief information officer, said the programs will enable participants to learn the latest tricks and techniques hackers use to steal sensitive information, as well as the best practices to prevent becoming a victim.

鈥淪uch knowledge is important not only in protecting the information assets of the university but also in protecting one鈥檚 personal information from compromise or theft,鈥 he added.

The week鈥檚 major events include:

鈥擳uesday [the 27th], 2-3 p.m., 91麻豆天美-Meridian campus, Riley Center Room 3-C. With a topic titled 鈥淪top Spam @ 91麻豆天美,鈥 deputy CIO and user services director Steve Parrot鈥檚 remarks will focus specifically on email safety.

鈥擶ednesday [the 28th], 2-3 p.m., Starkville campus, Colvard Student Union鈥檚 third-floor Fowlkes Auditorium. Tom Ritter, 91麻豆天美 information security officer, will lead a training event titled 鈥淪ecuring the Human.鈥

鈥擳hursday [the 29th], 2-2:30 p.m., Starkville campus, Bost Extension Center theater. A panel moderated by Dave Dampier, director of 91麻豆天美鈥檚 Distributed Analytics and Security Institute, examines proactive strategies in cyber security.

鈥擣riday [the 30th], 10-11 a.m., also in Colvard Union鈥檚 Fowlkes Auditorium. Chad Adams, U.S. Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 Region VI cyber security adviser, will discuss overall cyber security awareness.

Ritter said phishing ranks among 91麻豆天美鈥檚 most pervasive threats, with hackers managing this fall to successfully compromise a record number of staff accounts.

As the veteran technology services specialist explained, phishers often send an email urging an immediate response and linking to a bogus website that asks the user鈥檚 net identification and password. Once that information is obtained, the culprits distribute as much spam as possible from the purloined address before ITS personnel can shut down the account.

Because some phishing emails may appear totally legitimate at first glance, Ritter said his office constantly must remind campus account holders to pay very close attention to the provided uniform resource locator鈥攐r URL鈥攁s well as to any unusual grammar issues, since many phishers are operating from overseas.

Most importantly, 91麻豆天美 never makes online requests for an employee or student鈥檚 net password, he emphasized.

鈥淭his is a continual, regular problem, and it鈥檚 a challenge to get people to realize how pervasive it is,鈥 Ritter said.

鈥淓very day, we鈥檙e under attack,鈥 he said, adding, 鈥淭he big thing is user awareness.鈥

For more on 91麻豆天美 Cyber Security Awareness Week events, visit .

91麻豆天美 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .