January News from Information Security

Welcome to this special “mid-January” monthly edition of news from Information Security!

With the students not returning to class until the 13th of the month, this edition was delayed to roughly coincide with their arrival. Also delayed are the security awareness posters, for those who get them and post them in their offices. If you would like to have security awareness posters to put on a departmental or office bulletin board or at “the watering hole” for your area, please email infosec@berry.edu and mention you would like to receive these on a monthly basis (and how many). They will normally be distributed at the first of the month, but again, for January, 2020, they will be distributed the week of the 13th.

I’ve already sent a couple of emails to faculty and staff this year, one about the new idle workstation lock policy that went into effect on the 6th of January, and another pointing to a post here urging everyone to be particularly vigilant in the next few weeks, and beyond, as tensions with Iran continue to build. It is assumed that part of Iran’s counterattack will be conducted in the digital realm. You can read the warning by clicking here.

On the topic of returning things, there will be a LunchITS scheduled toward the end of January. The topic will be account security, including information about usernames, passwords, password managers, and multi-factor authentication. If any of that sounds unfamiliar, then this LunchITS is for you. I will send out an email when the schedule is confirmed and you can always check the event calendar right here on the InfoSec News & Alerts site for future events. February will see the return of the phishing LunchITS and a brand new LunchITS geared toward a broader overview of security awareness.

Wait, what’s a LunchITS, you ask? LunchITS, which is short for “Lunch+Information Technology Security” are one hour training sessions, held during the lunch hour (12:00 noon – 1:00 PM) in Krannert, where you can come, with your lunch, and learn more about information security. You can pick up lunch at Krannert, or brown bag it. Just be prepared to learn while you eat. You’ll get information to take back with you, with all of the main points of the session included on the provided literature, for those of us who can’t eat and take notes at the same time.

Also coming up in January is Data Privacy Day, celebrated on the 28th of the month, which just happens to be a Tuesday, and Information Security will have a table in Krannert from 11:30AM until 1:00PM where you can drop by and ask questions, pick up information, and grab some gratuitously bad edible items. This event will also be on the event calendar on this site and an email will go out the day before to remind you.

Finally, coming soon to a computer or phone screen near you (probably on your desk or in your hand) is the next in-house written, filmed, and produced security awareness video. The intrepid Director of Information Security will help yet another would-be victim with their security awareness. As soon as it is ready, an announcement will go out over email and on social media.

On that topic, if you’re not following Berry OIT on Facebook (@BerryCollegeOIT), Twitter (@berryoit), or Instagram (@berrycollegeoit), you should be, as more information from OIT and specifically Information Security, will be provided using these outlets. Remember you can always check back here for warnings about current phishing emails, confirmations of valid emails you might have a question about, and data breach notifications. There’s also the Q&A section, where you can ask a question and get an answer directly from me, and the previously mentioned events calendar.

That’s it! Welcome back to a new year, everyone, whether you just got here or have been here for two weeks this year already.

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Photo Credit – Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash