Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

In observance of October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) the ISC Office of Information Security (OIS) is holding several events on data security and phishing for faculty, staff and students.

The events began with OIS participation at the Employee Resource Fair on October 1. OIS distributed pouches with security tips on how to protect Penn and your own sensitive data. 

The five recommended tips are:

• Understand Penn’s Data Risk Classification to know how to handle various types of data.
• Store sensitive data in a secure location, e.g., Penn Box.
• Be aware of phishing scams and learn how to identify phishing emails and social engineering attempts.
• Verify online information before you act. The web is flooded with inaccurate information. Please verify online information by visiting at least three credible resources, e.g., government and universities provide credible sources of information. 
• Consider using a password manager, (e.g., LastPass) to create strong passwords without the difficulty of having to remember each individual account password.

A free movie screening of Joker was held on October 4 for students. Preceding the movie there was a discussion of Penn’s DMCA process and copyright policy. 

On October 10, OIS is celebrating a year of offering Security Logging with Question & Answer sessions. Join OIS and learn the importance of using tools to record login/logout online activities. 

Faculty, business administrators and IT staff reviewing third-party agreements should consider attending a V-STAR presentation on October 24 at 2 p.m. V-STAR is a tool used by the University to assist in navigating and evaluating vendor responses and what is permissible and advisable when sharing Penn data with a third-party. 

Details of these events and more are available on the OIS website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/ncsam2019

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead