Mission Statement
The Information Security Office is committed to lowering the risk profile of the University’s electronic information by implementing industry best practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of student, faculty, and staff information. We uphold the University’s compliance obligations by developing information security policies, providing security awareness training, and overseeing the implementation of strategic information security initiatives.
Scam of the Week
Storing Up Trouble
In this week’s scam, you receive a text message from your phone’s cloud storage provider. The message says your cloud storage is full and warns you that all your photographs and videos will be deleted if you don’t upgrade your storage immediately. The message prompts you to select a link to upgrade your plan.
But this text is from cybercriminals trying to scare you! If you select the link in the text, you’ll be taken to a fake web page and instructed to enter your credit card information so you can “upgrade” your storage. If you enter your credit card information here, cybercriminals will steal it!
Follow these tips to avoid falling victim to a phishing scam:
- If you receive a text message about your cloud storage being full, don’t reply or select any links in the message. Instead, open your cloud storage app or visit the official website to confirm that the message is legitimate.
- Remember that cybercriminals often try to trick you into acting impulsively by creating a sense of urgency. Always be cautious if you receive a text message that instructs you to act quickly!
- If you receive a suspicious text message, you can report it to your phone’s service provider. This report will help them block similar messages for everyone.
Time It Takes a Hacker to Brute Force Your Password in 2023
| Number of Characters | Number Only | Lowercase Letters | Upper and Lower Case Letters | Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters | Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters, Symbols |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly |
| 5 | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly |
| 6 | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly |
| 7 | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly |
| 8 | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | Instantly | 1 sec |
| 9 | Instantly | Instantly | 4 secs | 21 secs | 1 min |
| 10 | Instantly | Instantly | 4 mins | 22 mins | 1 hour |
| 11 | Instantly | 6 secs | 3 hours | 22 hours | 4 days |
| 12 | Instantly | 2 mins | 7 days | 2 months | 8 months |
| 13 | Instantly | 1 hour | 12 months | 10 years | 47 years |
| 14 | Instantly | 1 day | 52 years | 608 years | 3k years |
| 15 | 2 secs | 4 weeks | 2k years | 37k years | 232k years |
| 16 | 15 secs | 2 years | 140k years | 2m years | 16m years |
| 17 | 3 mins | 56 years | 7m years | 144m years | 1bn years |
| 18 | 26 mins | 1k years | 378m years | 8bn years | 79bn years |
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Cyber Security Alerts
What is being exploited?
Vulnerability in Windows CryptoAPI that allows malicious executables using a spoofed
code-signing certificate to appear as if it was from a trusted source.
What does this affect?
Attackers can conduct man-in-the-middle attacks and decrypt confidential information
on user connections to spoofed software that appears legitimate.
Which Operating Systems does this affect?
Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019
How to mitigate this?
Apply critical patches to affected systems as soon as possible.
For more information:
CVE-2020-0601
What is being exploited?
Vulnerability in Windows Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) that allows specially
crafted requests to execute arbitrary code on the target system.
What does this affect?
Attackers can gain access to the target system with full user rights that would allow
them to install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new users.
Which Operating Systems does this affect?
Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019
How to mitigate this?
Apply critical patches to affected systems as soon as possible.
For more information:
CVE-2020-0609 & CVE-2020-0610
What is being exploited?
Vulnerability in Windows Remote Desktop Client that allows the server to execute arbitrary
code on the target system after an unsuspecting user connects to it.
What does this affect?
Attackers can trick the user into connecting to a compromised server and gain access
to the target system with full user rights that would allow them to install programs;
view, change, or delete data; or create new users.
Which Operating Systems does this affect?
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows RT, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server
2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019
How to mitigate this?
Apply critical patches to affected systems as soon as possible.
For more information:
CVE-2020-0611
Windows 10 & Windows Server 2016 and newer
1. Search: Check for Updates
2. Click “Check for Updates” then install all updates
Windows 8 and older & Windows Server 2012 and older
1. Navigate: Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update
2. Click “Check for Updates” then install all updates