Please join Torch Tech and Women in Technology (WIT) on Tuesday, October 16, at the Kimmel Student Center, Room 406, from 12:30pm to 2pm for a lunch and a conversation with Tony Cetera, NYU IT’s Chief Information Security Officer. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Tony’s talk coincides with one of the month’s themes, “IT […]
Technology Security
Web Browser Privacy
Privacy and security are synergistic, so paying attention to browser privacy settings and features is critical for your online security. In this article are some of the steps you can take and features you can take advantage of to help protect your privacy and security while browsing the web.
Protect Who You Are Online
Being a victim of identity theft can cause anxiety and frustration, but there are corrective and preventive steps you can take. Below are some precautions that can lessen your likelihood of becoming a victim of identity theft, as well as some steps you can take if you are the victim of identity theft.
Data Breaches and Your Personal Data
Recently, there have been several striking security breaches in the news. The hack of the Democratic National Committee and the Equifax breach were the most high-profile, but there were other breaches that exposed the personal information of millions.
The Skinny on Short Links
Link shortening services can reduce URLs to 10-30 characters. Be mindful of the fact that the link shortening process masks the true destination URL and shortened URLs are often used by scammers to trick users into clicking malicious links. Stay safe by verifying the destination of shortened URLs.
Learn to Spot a Phony
Phone scams are a type of social engineering scam in which someone seek to trick often busy recipients into disclosing sensitive information or providing seemingly harmless responses to questions. This article reviews some of the common phone scams and provides recommendations and best practices.
Phishing, Spear Phishing, and Whaling
Email has become the most common avenue for phishing scams, which use social engineering to take advantage of users. Variations of phishing, each with different characteristics, include spear phishing and whaling. Learn how to spot these emails and how you can avoid enabling them to steal your data.
Ransomware Scams
Ransomware tricks users into installing itself on their devices. Ransomware scams most commonly occur via email social engineering scams, a/k/a phishing scams. In ransomware attacks, malware encrypts a user’s files and requests ransom payment to unlock the files and restore encrypted content.
Under Lock and Passphrase
When it comes to passwords for your various online accounts and services, a best practice is to use a unique password for each. After all, if passwords are shared between accounts and one is compromised, it creates a security risk for other accounts with the same password. It can also be very difficult to remember increasing numbers of strong passwords, many of which are required to contain special characters and capitalized letters.
Your Own Personal Hacker
Change in IT security is so rapid that what is learned in a classroom can be out of date by the time the class is over. The Hacker in Residence program at NYU Tandon School of Engineering provides access to security professionals so students can get experience with security issues.