2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Month Week 4 – Meet Giant Company

Welcome to week four of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! This is the last week and we are winding down both cybersecurity awareness training and the Virtual Scavenger Hunt (VSH). All four weeks of the hunt are now available, so if you were waiting so you wouldn’t have to wait, now is your time! All email issues have been resolved to our knowledge, but if you complete a week of the VSH and submit your answers, but don’t receive an email, let me know, I will get you the information you need to proceed.

Before we get to the main topic for this week, I want to discuss a “remedial” topic that came up last week. At the bottom of my email, in the signature, I have the following:

There are two rules to follow concerning your account passwords:
1. NEVER SHARE YOUR PASSWORDS WITH ANYONE (EVEN OIT!!!!)
2. If unsure, consult rule #1

Note that in the first of these two rules, I use the word “share”. Sharing a password includes all of the following methods:

• Telling someone your password
• Writing your password down and handing it to someone
• Posting your password on a bulletin board or outdoor advertising billboard
• Pantomiming your password, a la charades, to anyone
• Entering your password into any kind of form, document, or email

The only place you should ever type (or copy/paste) your password is into a login prompt when logging into a computer, when presented with the Berry single-sign-on prompt (the prompt you get when trying to access https://myapps.berry.edu), or into another approved application. Understand that we will NEVER ask for your Berry account password, in any form, via any method, for any reason. We will NEVER ask you to “validate” your account using an online form. NEVER. If you have any doubt, consult rule #2 above and contact the Technical Support Desk at x5838 (706-238-5838).

Also, to the 1400 users, both faculty and staff (you know who you are), who are using “voice” as your multi-factor authentication (MFA) method…STOP. Load the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone and join the 21st century. If you don’t want to load the free app, then go to Amazon and buy a hardware key for your MFA. They have different ones, but be sure to buy one that either has NFC (near field communication) capability (for your phone) or has the correct port (USB-C, USB-A, Lightning) for all your devices. It is much simpler to just install the Microsoft Authenticator app…

On to the actual topic for this last week! It is remarkable how our remedial topic aligns with this weekly topic.

Meet Giant Company, but don’t take their bait!

Giant Company was one name for a massive scam operation based in Myanmar but targeting regular Americans like you and your grandma. Almost 300 people were arrested in connection with the Giant Company, and 9 scam centers were disrupted as part of the crackdown. But Giant Company is a drop in an ocean of scams. Scammers and phishing attackers impersonate your bank, your boss, a delivery company, customer support, or even a family member. They want you to click their links, take their phone calls, open their DMs, respond to their “accidental” texts, and, eventually, send them your hard-earned money. And now with AI, scammers can do more crime every day! These big scamming syndicates love to make you feel something and act fast.

Don’t make life easy for Giant Company!

• Be extremely suspicious of every unexpected inbound message, especially if it seems urgent
• Take a few seconds (4-9 seconds) when reviewing all communication
• Look out for urgency, like fear (“you just got hacked!”) and pressure (“you won an
  expensive grill!”)

You don’t need to click. You don’t need to respond. You don’t need to answer the phone. You aren’t being rude. Their biggest enemy isn’t technology. It’s your skepticism. Be skeptical.

That’s our last week! Remember to complete your cybersecurity awareness training! The course will close on October 31st. You can access it at this link – https://game.hoxhunt.com If you have any issues accessing the training, please let me know.

If you haven’t started the Virtual Scavenger Hunt, now is the time! All weeks are now available to complete all at once – no waiting! Remember, you have multiple chances to win a prize by completing the different weeks of the hunt. Start your hunt by clicking this link! IMPORTANT: All email issues have been corrected, however, if you have submitted answers and NOT received an email back, please let me know and I will get you the information you need to move to the next phase in the hunt.

Good luck on both your training and your hunt!

Thank you so much for reading these articles, participating in the hunt, and getting your training done. Whether you believe it or not, or like it or not, you are a critical aspect of our cybersecurity defenses!