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

Welcome to the 2025-2026 academic year. The Penn Office of Information Security wishes Penn faculty and staff a meaningful year. While you are back into the full swing of teaching and preparing to welcome new and returning students, we wanted to share a few security tips:  

Passphrase: Use a memorable sentence from your routine, like “Drink 1 cup of coffee at @7 am.” This creates strong, complex passwords over 16 characters.

Password Manager: Penn provides Dashlane for secure password creation and storage, free to faculty, staff, and students. You can access your stored passwords using one master password.

Penn Data Classification: Identify the type of data you work with to ensure proper storage and handling. Review Penn data classification and consult with your manager and IT support on where to store and back up the data you handle. Remember to back up Penn data on the Penn-approved data storage location. 

Device security: Install and use anti-virus software to protect your device—Penn provides Sophos for employees and students at no cost. Don’t forget to update your software and browser plugins regularly for security.

Email verification: Verify email sources before acting, check addresses, and don’t reply unless verified. Avoid clicking suspicious links or attachments, especially when urged to act quickly.

Workday training: Take the Penn Information Security Essentials training on Workday to learn more about the best recommended information security practices at the University. 

We encourage you to visit these web pages for more information: 

• Penn Data Risk Classification: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/data-classification. 
• Antivirus for desktops and laptops: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/how-to/antivirus-desktops-and-laptops. 
• Change PennKey Password: https://weblogin.pennkey.upenn.edu/changeexpiredpassword. 
• Dashlane at Penn: https://isc.upenn.edu/resources/dashlane. 

Have a secure year!

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For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts%23One-Step-Ahead.