phishing

Tis the season….to get scammed!

Once again the holiday season is upon us. This is a time where we celebrate family and friends, reach out to those in need and try to make the world a better place one little act of kindness at a time. Unfortunately, it’s also a time where those who don’t share our vision of “Peace on Earth” abuse the generosity and trust of people around the world by lying, stealing and destroying the financial lives of innocent victims. Cyberattacks are on the rise and the Christmas holiday season provides online fraudsters with ample ammunition to target online shoppers and those expecting various communications from mail and parcel delivery services.

In an effort to protect you during the holidays, the Information Management and Security Office would like to remind you of the following guidelines to help you keep your information and your computing devices safe and scam free.

Passwords

You certainly wouldn’t hang your house keys or car keys on your mailbox outside your house. Anyone could walk by, grab the keys and help themselves to your assets. Unfortunately, we don’t treat our passwords with the same kind of respect it seems. Passwords are the key to your online identity and improper usage or storage of them makes it easy for attackers to abuse your credentials and do things that would certainly land them on the naughty list. Some guidelines to remember for keeping passwords safe include:

1. DON’T REUSE PASSWORDS ACROSS WEBSITES. Although it’s tempting since passwords are hard to remember, it is a very poor practice to only have one password for your online identity. Not all sites are created equal so there may be some wiggle room in that directive but generally you need to have distinctly separate passwords on the following sites:

a. Banking
b. Email
c. Ecommerce sites that store your credit card or banking info (PayPal, Amazon, etc).

A password management tool like KeePass or LastPass can help manage your passwords and keep them safe. Many of them are free and will create a vault for you to store these precious assets in.

2. DO NOT ENTER PASSWORDS INTO WEBSITES THAT ASK YOU TO CONFIRM YOUR IDENTITY THROUGH EMAIL. Those emails that promise more space or a deactivation of your account are fraudulent. We refer to them as phishing attacks. These websites are often hosted in questionable locations that don’t have anything to do with the organization who supposedly sent you the email. Always check the address bar of your browser or hover over a link with your mouse to make sure you are where you think you are. For example, a uleth.ca login page will never be hosted on a site that doesn’t end in .uleth.ca (https://login.uleth.ca/cas/login, or https://adfs.uleth.ca )

For a complete training course on phishing, we encourage you to enroll in our online training materials available for all students, staff and faculty. Visit the Information Security webpage  for more information. Enrollment in these courses is easy.

Email Attachments

Part of our overall security strategy at the University is to restrict certain files from coming into your inbox. Certain attachments can be used to spread viruses, malware or ransomware. For example, you cannot receive .zip, .docm, .exe or .com files. All of these could contain potential risks and so we remove them before they ever have a chance to arrive in your email. However, we cannot control your personal email accounts or websites you may visit, which may host these types of files. We encourage you to never open a suspicious file from someone you don’t know or to click on links from non-trusted webpages that encourage you to download these types of files. When downloaded and running, these types of files can silently download malicious software onto your computer which could result in the complete loss of data or usage of your machine.

During the holidays there are some common scams that occur including emails which are attempts to trick users into thinking they are receiving a package or delivery. Because of the time of year we aren’t always thinking about whether or not we are actually expecting something and sometimes click on places we shouldn’t. A few years ago we had a huge spike in these kinds of emails and so we created a webpage that describes the attack in detail and how you can avoid it. Please review that summary here.

Ransomware
A new and very effective attack that is becoming increasingly popular is ransomware. This type of attack will hold your data ransom and demand payment (usually $200 – $400 per machine) in order to restore access. There is no technical solution that can fix ransomware once it has infected your computer and unless you have backups in place, you will be forced to pay or lose your data. Paying ransom can be complicated and doesn’t actually guarantee that you will be able to recover your data so the preference is to never get infected in the first place. Ransomware is typically delivered though malicious email attachments or files downloaded from the internet. Most infections can be easily avoided if you pay attention to what you click on and never allow untrusted applications or website to run programs on your system. Ransomware affects a variety of institutions and organizations. Recently, the University of Calgary and Carleton University in Ottawa had ransomware unleashed in their environment which caused huge interruptions to their research and teaching activities. These types of attacks could have serious implications on the University of Lethbridge and we urge all users to be vigilant in their computing activities to prevent similar incidents from happening here.

What can you do?
The Information Security program at the University of Lethbridge has created a variety of training and education opportunities to help you understand how best to protect your information. All University staff, faculty and students should be engage in these online and in person training opportunities. Any questions or concerns should be sent to ITS who will be happy to assist you.

Current training courses include:

1. Security Awareness (A general overview of good IT Security practices)
2. Phishing Awareness (A focused review of Phishing attacks and how to avoid them)
3. Data Encryption (How to encrypt and protect sensitive data in the event of loss or theft)
4. Data Storage Standard (All staff and faculty should take this every 2 years to determine where and how to store various types of data)

To schedule some in person training for your department, please reach out to Kevin Vadnais, 403-332-4056 or kevin.vadnais@uleth.ca, who will arrange a time to address the topics that affect your teams the most.

Hacker typing on a laptop

The coffee’s on Leslie – just in time for ‘phishing season’

 

The next time you see Leslie Gatner, Financial Analyst in Financial Services, the coffee’s on her. Gatner’s name was drawn to win the $25 Starbuck’s gift card for completing the online Phishing and Identity Theft course last month.

“We had a good response to the online course, but in my world, 100% completion would be ideal,” says Kevin Vadnais, IT Services Information Security Manager. He says he realizes it may not be realistic but it’s his goal nonetheless, especially with the holiday season looming.

“We’re coming into one of the busiest ‘phishing’ seasons with the upcoming holidays, so I would like to advise the University community to be vigilant.” Vadnais says the Christmas season logically lends itself to shipping scams by the bad guys. “Typically you will see emails from which you’re invited to download a .zip or .exe file that claims to have tracking information on a shipment. The email uses high-quality logos from companies like Canada Post, FedEx and UPS and, in addition, the grammar is far better than the usual phishing emails we see. Once the user clicks on the attachment, what it actually does is download malware on the user’s machine. The malware can contain a variety of threats: for example, Crypto locker is one that holds a computer hostage until a significant ‘ransom’ is paid, and there’s the threat of data theft. The bad guys can capture passwords when doing online banking, find personal data like social insurance numbers in tax returns, and both can lead to identity theft.”

As in all cases, Vadnais advises users to stop and ask themselves if it makes sense to simply click on an attachment, or go to the sender’s website instead to find tracking information. “Use common sense, if you’re not expecting a package, don’t click on a link that says you have one. One of the easiest clues is to hover your cursor over the link provided and compare it to what url shows next to it, or in the bottom of your browser. If it’s phishing or a malicious file, the destination in the link or image which pops up in the hover will not match what the browser text or image is showing. When that happens think twice about proceeding.”

URL hover image

 

 

 

Vadnais says the Information Security website is a good resource to check out if you’re wondering about an email. It contains some of the most current and common threats. He strongly encourages people to take the Security Awareness and Phishing and Identity Theft courses online, and more than once if required – just to refresh the memory. “They are excellent sources of information for everyone.”

Also contained on the site is a form users can complete to report a phishing attack. “The phishing messages we’re concerned about are those that appear in our inboxes, or slip by filters without the ***PHISHING MESSAGE*** alert in the subject line. We can take a lot of those sites down if we report them to the company whose image is being falsely used and alert organizations when we see one of their accounts being abused. This provides us an opportunity to take preventative measures to stop our accounts from being compromised.”

For more information, or to arrange a security session for your unit or department, please contact Kevin Vadnais at kevin.vadnais@uleth.ca.

Cyber Security Awareness Month wrap-up – it’s not too late to get your gift!

 

The IT Services Information Security Office and University Privacy Office extends a huge thank-you to the U of L community for its support of the recent events held in support Cyber Security Awareness Month.

About 150 students, faculty and staff stopped by the information booths set up in the UHall Atrium and Students’ Union building during the weeks of Oct. 14 and 20th, says Kevin Vadnais, Information Security Manager. “Everyone who took the 10-question quiz was awarded with a light-up yo-yo or pocket flashlight, and we still have more for those who didn’t get the chance at the booths.”CyberSecurity

Vadnais is encouraging everyone to take the online quiz, and they simply need to send him the answer to the bonus question via email at kevin.vadnais@uleth.ca to request one of the gifts. He adds that test-takers need to enter their name in the title of the screen to be eligible.

Earlier in the month, consultants for PricewaterhouseCoopers presented on Security Trends in Today’s Market at CASA which piqued great discussion among University and Lethbridge community members.

“We had a good response from the community both in the public and private sector. I think most were engaged in the topic and took away valuable information. This kind of event sets the stage for more related sessions in the future and promotes collaboration within the Lethbridge community. It’s everyone’s problem and everyone’s responsibility to educate and protect themselves, and those they may serve,” Vadnais adds.

Everyone is reminded to take the 10-minute phishing and identity theft course in order to be entered into a draw for a $25 Starbucks gift card. Completion of the course must occur by 11:59 PM on Oct. 31 to be eligible for the draw.

Faculty, staff and students are also strongly encouraged to take the security awareness course that is now a permanent feature on the Information Security website.

For more information, contact Kevin Vadnais at (403) 332-4056 or kevin.vadnais@uleth.ca.

Free cyber security seminar – Security Trends in Today’s Market

When was the last time you changed your password(s)? How secure is your company’s network – or your client’s data? Can you recognize a phishing scam?

October is Cyber Security Awareness month in Canada. In our highly connected world, awareness about faceless bad guys – or bad actors, as they’re known by IT security professionals – is as important as looking before crossing a busy street.

“Information security is everyone’s business,” says Kevin Vadnais, the University’s Information Security Manager. “Our organizations expect us to protect the data over which we have been given responsibility. Educating ourselves about the risks in our internet centred environment protects us as workers, clients, and citizens, as well as the businesses we operate.”

The Information Security Office at the University of Lethbridge is hosting a free security seminar for the Lethbridge community to help improve awareness of information security risks.  Join security experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers: Neil Karan, Alberta’s cyber security leader and director in PwC’s Risk Assurance Service practice, and Bryson Tan, national threat and vulnerability management practice lead, in a conversation about current and emerging trends in the information security landscape. Brief bios on the featured speakers are below.

“Rarely do we have the opportunity to ask the people on the front lines of information security what they encounter on a day-to-day basis. The presentation is a nice mixture of lecture and an interactive Q & A session,” says Vadnais.

The event takes place at CASA in the ATB Financial Community Room, 230- 8 St. South, on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 1-4 pm.

Attendance is free and anyone interested is welcome, however RSVPs (via ticket download) are required to ensure adequate seating. Light refreshments will be provided and a non-sponsored social event will follow at the Telegraph Tap House (310 6 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0H4).

To reserve your space: https://uleth.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=440

For more info on cyber security in general, visit the the University’s Information Technology Services website. Also watch for upcoming announcements and activities on campus in support of Cyber Security Awareness month.

Neil Karan, PwCNeil Karan is the Alberta Cyber Security Leader and Director in PwC’s Risk Assurance Services practice, working out of the Calgary office.  Neil is responsible for executing threat and vulnerability management programs, digital foot printing, social engineering, security strategy reviews, and breach response initiatives.  

 

 

 

Bryson Tan, PwCBryson Tan is the National Threat and Vulnerability Management practice lead at PwC and is responsible for the development and delivery of services that include Cyber Resilience assessments, penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, source code assessment, platform security diagnostic services, wireless detection and evaluation and enterprise network security.

 

Tax Scam Season again!

"Dear Taxpayer,"

“Dear Taxpayer,”

Every year around this time we see cyber criminals attempting to steal your personal information by sending false correspondence in the name of the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA).  A sample scam was recently sent to the IT Security office from a University client – don’t be fooled by what appears to be a legitimate communication.

The bogus email (find the entire message on the Security website here), tells the recipient their $988.44 tax refund for 2014  has been processed, and to click the link to ensure it gets deposited.

Do you see the red flags?

  • Canadian citizens are in the process of filing their 2013 income tax returns – not 2014.
  • The email is addressed to “Dear Tax Payer,” so how could the author know what your refund should be?
  • How many people file and receive their refund BEFORE the end of February? At least in this particular case.
  • If you hover your cursor over the link, it reveals the location it will take you to if you click on it – which is definitely NOT http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca
  • It asks for your social insurance number (SIN). First of all, if they know what your tax refund is, they already have your SIN. Secondly, under NO circumstances will any legitimate business or government agency ask you for personal information.
  • CRA never operates this way – never has, never will.

It’s all very PHISHY! Be suspicious!

To learn how to protect yourself against cyber criminals, check out the online Security Awareness Course.