Tag Archive for: Email

Check your email security, and protect your customers – NCSC.GOV.UK – National Cyber Security Centre



Check your email security, and protect your customers – NCSC.GOV.UK  National Cyber Security Centre

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Essential Email and Internet Safety Tips for College Students


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Your email is one of the most important digital assets and identities because it helps you create accounts on other platforms. It is also the central internet communication tool in academic institutions and colleges. According to an analysis by Sprinto, cyber attacks in educational institutions rose by 75% in the last year. Keeping your emails away from hackers will reduce your threat exposure on many other digital platforms, adding a layer of security in the face of surging cyber attacks.

Securing your email requires you to pay attention to your passwords, gadgets, and the links you engage with. The places you share the email will also either expose you or keep you away from danger. Here are critical email safety insights every student should consider when in college and beyond. But why are college students frequently targeted by identity thieves?

Why are College Students Frequently Targeted by Identity Thieves?

College represents a perfect storm for cybercriminals. Students juggle countless logins across sites and apps. Most use one or two gadgets for everything. From social to financial accounts, it’s all there. That spells out vulnerability.

Many also embrace info-sharing in this always-on era. Digital oversharing, though, hands data to hackers. Details like addresses, numbers, security answers—a fraudster’s dream.

There’s perception too. Cybercrooks assume students have casual security. Weak vigilance or underusing protections like two-factor authentication, for example. So students appear to be an easy bullseye.

The sheer volume doesn’t help either. Colleges have tens of thousands of potential targets all in one place. For identity thieves, it’s open season on campus.

PowerDMARC’s report on the state of email authentication adoption found that 48.1% of the analyzed .edu domains were not protected against email abuse. Furthermore, 26.4% of the analyzed .edu domains didn’t even have preliminary authentication protocols like SPF implemented. This proved that several well-known organizations in academia still lack basic defenses against email impersonation and abuse, reiterating the need for email safety awareness among educational…

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Microsoft says state-sponsored Russian hacking group accessed email accounts of senior leaders | Business





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Feds probe $283,000 email hack


Nov. 17—TRAVERSE CITY — A September email hack netting a scammer $283,000 in Medicaid reimbursement funds is now being investigated by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

“There is an agent out of Grand Rapids doing a forensic investigation,” said Brian Martinus, interim CEO of Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority.

“They’re working with Northern Lakes and GTI to see if we can recover some of those assets back to the agency,” Martinus said Thursday during a Northern Lakes board meeting.

Traverse City Police previously confirmed the hacker, falsely posing as a representative of Grand Traverse Industries, emailed Northern Lakes asking for banking information.

An unnamed staffer or staffers with Northern Lakes responded by providing the information, police said, and that’s when the theft took place.

Capt. Keith Gills confirmed Thursday that local police have provided information to the federal agency, and that they’re working together on the case.

Gillis said subpoenas have been issued to area banks, their response has been slow and the federal agent assigned to investigate is likely tracking the hacker’s IP address — internet protocol, or the unique number linked to all online activity.

“They used a computer and that leaves a trail,” Gillis said.

This is the second time Martinus has updated Northern Lakes board members on the case, an example of how leaders say they are focused on improving transparency of an organization that has faced a series of financial and other challenges.

The Northern Michigan Regional Entity, which manages Medicaid funds for Northern Lakes, is essentially functioning as an emergency manager after Northern Lakes in September placed two executives on administrative leave and the human resources officer was fired.

Joanie Blamer, chief operations officer, and Lauri Fischer, chief financial officer, remain on paid leave, pending an investigation, Martinus previously said, adding that the decisions were unrelated to the email hack.

Northern Lakes contracted with a professional advisory firm, Rehmann, to take on the responsibilities of a CFO for $45,000 a month beginning Oct. 1, an agreement provided to the Record-Eagle shows.

Rehmann’s Richard Carpenter…

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