While we are nearing the end of Cyber Security Awareness Month, it is important to remember that cybersecurity threats don’t begin and end in October. For now, there’s still time to enrol in our Security Awareness Course through Brightspace to learn more about staying safe online, and for a chance to win a pair of Airpods or Ravens merch. Enrol by end of day on October 28, 2022 for your chance to win!
After taking our Security Awareness Course, you can expand your learning by reading our posts and information about how to identify and stay safe from phishing below:
Seven Red Flags of Phishing
The best way to stay safe from phishing is to learn to recognize the signs of a phishing attempt, and how to protect yourself from it. To quickly recap, look out for these seven red flags commonly associated with phishing attempts:
- 1. Threat of an Emergency
The sender of the email might try to press you into responding swiftly by tricking you into believing a family or financial emergency has occurred.
Remember: if someone truly needed to get in contact with you because of a legitimate emergency, they wouldn’t email you.
- 2. Requests for Sensitive Information
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One of the more common red flags of phishing attempts. Cybercriminals will ask for personal information by providing a link to a page to enter your login credentials.
Remember: no matter who is asking, it’s never a good idea to share sensitive information like passwords over email.
- 3. An Offer Too Good to Be True
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Instead of threatening you with an emergency, cybercriminals might also attempt to deceive you into believing you’ve won some sort of prize.
Remember: if a prince or CEO requests your help and offers a large sum of money in return, don’t believe it.
- 4. Expect the Unexpected
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If the content of the message concerns an unexpected topic, such as updates on items you didn’t purchase, trash it.
Remember: if the email is from an unexpected and unrecognized name, email address, or phone number, it is wise to be cautious.
- 5. Phishy Mistakes
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Phishing emails often contain grammar errors, off-putting links, and subtle misspellings of well-known domain names.
Remember: use your best judgement in determining if these mistakes are odd typos or a sign of a deceitful message.
- 6. Suspicious Attachments
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Often cybercriminals include attachments that, when downloaded, might infect your device with malware.
Remember: be cautious about downloading attachments that you didn’t ask for, ones that aren’t well explained, and ones with strange file names and types.
- 7. Unprofessional Design
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When a phishing email includes graphics and images, they often look unprofessional or poorly designed. For example, blurry logos, image-only emails, or poorly formatted emails may be signs of a fraudulent email.
Remember: if the message appears unprofessional, think twice before trusting it.
Recognizing these seven red flags will surely help you in avoiding phishing attempts, but keep in mind that new and inventive methods of phishing are constantly being developed. Exercise caution and use your best judgement when approaching any unfamiliar message.
How To Get Help
If you’ve been phished or ran into another cybersecurity issue, your first course of action should be contacting the ITS Service Desk. We encourage using our online chat feature to engage with a live Service Desk agent during business hours or reporting the issue by opening a ticket. For more information on using using our chat service or opening a ticket, please visit the ITS Help Centre. Other methods of support are available at Carleton.ca/its/contact.
Stay Cyber Secure Year Round
Cyber security doesn’t end after October. Please watch the ITS website and follow us @Carleton_IT on Twitter for any information concerning new updates, campaigns, and tips and tricks as they become available.
Lastly, we encourage you to share anything you’ve learned this month with your friends, family, and anyone else to spread the word about phishing and how we can avoid it.
Friday, October 21, 2022 | Categories: Cyber Month, News, Security
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