Clarkson University Office of Information Technology has been alerted to a recent increase in suspicious message activity, including reports of individuals receiving a message which appears as a ‘shared item’ from an unknown sender. The shared item has the appearance of a shared Google file with a preview that contains names and contact information of familiar Clarkson named individuals and their department.
See SAMPLE below: Be Alert for Clues like unknown sender name or email address that does not match the information in the message preview. Other clues: name in all caps, using ‘The’ in the title referencing Clarkson University, and from ‘outside your organization’.
These types of messages are known as “phishing” which is the practice of sending messages that appear to be coming from a reputable source such as co-worker, employer, online retailers, and banks as an attempt to get you to reveal personal or sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Remember from your cybersecurity training … STOP. THINK. CONNECT.
- Did the message come from an unfamiliar email address or mobile number?
- Did the message ask you to send money, purchase gift cards, money orders or wire funds?
- Did the sender promote a sense of urgency to get you to act?
- If the email contained links, did you click on them?
- If you did click on a link, did you enter any sensitive information such as a password, social security number, or credit card information?
- If the email contained attachments, did you open them?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, information may be at risk. For assistance, please contact the IT HelpDesk at helpdesk@clarkson.edu or 315-268-HELP.
