Cyber Security & Phishing Awareness

security cyber phishing awareness cyber-security spam cybersecurity malware attack attempt

The goal of Cyber Security Awareness is to ensure everyone at NSU has the knowledge necessary to act in protecting themselves, their devices, and NSU systems. Being an Informed Cyber Citizen means you understand and can recognize phishing attempts or malicious activity in the technology world.

Your NSU Account and Password

ITS and the NSU IT Service Desk will never ask you to provide your password.

If you believe your account has been compromised at any time, please change your password immediately through the Password Manager website: password.nsuok.edu

Create a Strong Password

The Do's

Use unique passwords for different systems
Use a phrase to help you remember your password
Use special characters or symbols
Substitute numbers for letters
Use a Password Manager application such as LastPass to secure all login credentials

And The Do Not's

Do not use the same password for multiple accounts
Do not create a password based on personal information
Do not share your password with anyone

Cyber Security Safety Tips

Never walk away without locking or signing off your computer
Do not share NSU related files, documents, or business information unless authorized
Do not use your NSU Email Account for personal business or to sign up for personal accounts
Do not write down your username and password or post this information for others to see
Do not save personal information to an NSU computer
Do not click on suspicious URLs, Links, Emails, or Attachments
Ensure your software, operating systems, and browsers, and personal devices are up to date
Perform virus scans routinely on personal devices

Symptoms of a Compromised Computer

slow or non-responsive
experiencing unexpected behavior such as programs popping up
showing signs of high level of activity to the hard drive that is not the result of anything you initiated
displaying messages on your screen that you haven't seen before
running out of disk space unexpectedly
unable to run a program because it doesn't have enough memory - and this hasn't happened before
constantly crashing
automatically communicating with external computers that you did not initiate
receiving bounced-back emails

Avoid Phishing Attempts

Phishing is an attempt to fraudulently acquire your personal information or resources by posing as a trustworthy entity.

Examine your emails carefully! Phishing emails are the number one way hackers attempt to your steal information. Use caution when reading an email you receive from an unfamiliar sender. Use caution when downloading attachments or clicking on links within an email, as these are the most common methods used to infect your computer and email account.

Review Sender Information - Hover your mouse over the name of the Sender. A window will open and provide you the senders name and email address. Is it a legitimate NSU Email Addresses?

Subject Link Information - Read the subject line of the email carefully. Do the subject line make sense? Or does it create urgency on your part to act now?

Examine Message Information - Ask yourself if you know the sender and know about the subject information? Does the sender know you? Did they use a generic greeting? The sender of a phishing email may have your email address, but they seldom have your name. Use caution if an email was sent with a generic greeting such as "Dear Customer", "Dear Member", or "Dear Account User" . Emails sent from the NSU IT Service Desk will come from help@nsuok.edu. Emails sent from NSU Information Technology Services will come from its@nsuok.edu.

Attachments and Links - Attachments can be dangerous as they may contain malware, which can infect your device and email account. Do not open an attachment from a sender you do not know or trust. Be very caution of links that take you straight to a page to fill out personal information. This is a clear indication the email is phishing attempt.

Once you have examined the information above and suspect the email is a phishing attempt, immediately mark the email as spam and delete it from you inbox!