Workshop summary: Protecting your online presence
U of M Security Analyst Jenny Blaine led a pointed discussion on how to protect your online data and identity for UMRA’s September 2020 Living Well Workshop.
In our September 2020 Living Well Workshop, Jenny Blaine, a security analyst with University Information Security, led a pointed discussion on how to protect your online data and identity. She began by noting that everyone should be concerned about cybersecurity. You may not think you have anything valuable to steal, but you do. You are a gateway to all kinds of things worth stealing, including your assets, your access to data, and the trust that other people have in you.
Cybercrime is a growing worldwide industry, especially during the pandemic when so many people are online. New software has made it possible for even unsophisticated criminals to send out thousands of bogus emails, texts, and robocalls, often masquerading as someone you know. Some of these scams are very realistic and can dupe even knowledgeable people.
What can be done to protect yourself? Blaine offered several tips, including these:
- Password protect everything you have that connects to the internet, including your phone (in case you lose it), your laptops and tablets, and other objects including things like Amazon Echo devices, garage doors and thermostats. Do not use the default passwords for connected devices; these passwords are well-known by hackers.
- Use passphrases rather than passwords. It’s harder to hack phrases of 16+ characters than it is to hack 8-character collections of random letters and numbers. You can make the phrases easier to remember. “Person Woman Man Camera TV” is safer than Lg7!w6e3.
- Try to use a different passphrase for each application or device. Keep track of your passphrases using a password manager program like PasswordSafe, or just write them down on paper in a handy but secure place. If you save your “paper” list of passphrases online, be sure to protect the document with a password.
- Use multi-factor authentication (password + verification phone call, text, or challenge questions) whenever you can. Since the University started using Duo authentication, the annual number of compromised University accounts has dropped from more than 4,000 to only a handful.
- Make sure your home Wi-Fi is password protected. Be wary of public Wi-Fi networks in coffee shops and other places. When using them, avoid any online ordering or financial business.
- Make sure your software is up to date, and make sure you have anti-virus software installed. Windows Defender, the program that comes with Windows, is good enough that you probably don’t need to buy a separate program for a Windows computer.
You are welcome to contact the Office of Information Technology at [email protected] or 612-301-4357 if you have questions about cybersecurity or any other computer-related issues. Finally, if you receive scam messages on your U of M account, you can report them to [email protected].
—Ron Matross, chair, Workshop Committee
Protecting your online presence
Tue, September 15 2020, 11am
Event to be held via Zoom.
Are you concerned about the safety of your digital data? If not, you should be. The world is awash with people who want your data—and want to do bad things with it. As we spend more time online during the pandemic, the threats have only intensified.
On Tuesday, September 15, at 11 a.m. via Zoom, UMRA will present a Living Well Workshop on cyber security. This one-hour presentation, via Zoom webinar, will provide an overview of cyber threats and best practices for protecting ourselves from them.
Be sure to register for our first fall workshop.
The topics covered will include how to protect yourself from fraudulent email scams, malware, ransomware, and malicious websites; what two-factor authentication is and why you should use it; how to create and manage strong passwords; other safe computing tips and where to find additional resources online.
Our presenter, Jenny Blaine, is a security analyst with University Information Security and is a member of the University's security incident response team. Using tools for e-discovery, log analysis, and memory forensics, Blaine works with law enforcement, the Office of Internal Audit, and the Office of the General Counsel on both internal and external cyber investigations at the University.
—Ron Matross, chair, Workshop Committee
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