Passwords are Private
by Maggie Brudnicki
UCit reminds you that your account passwords are private. The University of Cincinnati, like other colleges and universities, has been the target of multiple phishing attempts. Recent phishing attempts have been e-mail messages, crafted to look official, that demand users send their e-mail passwords to prevent their accounts from being deleted. If someone supplies a password, spammers can access the accounts to send out thousands of spam e-mail messages.
If you receive such e-mail, delete it. Do not respond in any way. The E-Mail team is working with our spam filter vendor to figure out how to more quickly identify these files as spam and to block them before they arrive in users’ mailboxes. When we become aware of a particular e-mail phishing attempt, we scan our logs to see what users have sent replies. We check those accounts to see if they have been compromised.
UCit will never ask you to send your password or personal information such as birth date. If we need to access your account, with the proper authorization from the information security team, we will change your password. If you are on the phone with the Help Desk, a consultant may ask you to change your password, then share it to permit him or her access your account to assist you. The consultant should then instruct you to change your password again.
According to the General Policy on the Use of Information Technology, “Passwords are the keys to the virtual campus and all users are responsible for the security of their passwords.” The full text of the policy is available at http://www.uc.edu/ucit/policies/infotechuse.html.
UCit is planning for substantial changes to the e-mail systems in the coming months. We plan to use multiple methods to publicize these changes. We will also be sure to maintain important information on the E-Mail web pages at http://www.uc.edu/ucit/email/.
|
