As the Marquette community shifts to working and learning remotely, Information Technology Services (ITS) warns all students, faculty and staff to be aware of cyber criminals, who are exploiting the fear and anxiety surrounding coronavirus.
These malicious actors most commonly trick their victims into taking a specific action, such as clicking on a link, downloading a file or providing sensitive information.
You can avoid these scams by learning to recognize them. Follow these tips to increase your security awareness and help defend yourself and Marquette from malicious attackers.
- Recognize scams by reading these resources.
- Connect to a secure network.
- Avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi. If you must use public Wi-Fi, use GlobalProtect VPN to secure your connection.
- Home Wi-Fi routers should be updated to current software and secured with a lengthy, unique passphrase. Contact your router manufacturer or Internet Service Provider for assistance.
- Keep a clean machine. Update all software on Internet-connected devices – including PCs, smartphones and tablets – to reduce risk of infection from malware.
- IT Services recommends using built-in security on your computer’s operating system.
- Windows (8.1 and above) includes Windows Defender.
- macOS (10.7 Lion and above) includes XProtect and Gatekeeper.
Faculty and staff: IT Services has partnered with the SANS Institute to provide cyber security awareness training with the focus on getting learners to both “know” and “do” the right thing at the right time with accuracy and consistency. Topics include recognizing social engineering, browsing safely, enhancing mobile security and creating strong passwords. Learn more about the online training. For more resources about working off campus, visit the Remote Work website.
Students: For more resources about learning from off campus, visit the Remote Learning website.