In honor of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, University Information Technology (UIT) has this month stepped up its efforts to raise awareness of mobile security risks within the Tufts community.
The Department of Homeland Security has sponsored National Cyber Security Awareness Month every October for the past eight years. For four of those eight years, UIT has conducted student outreach regarding issues of mobile security, according to Director of Communications and Organizational Effectiveness for UIT Dawn Irish.
Due to the recent increase in mobile−browsing capabilities on college campuses, mobile security is UIT's first priority, according to Irish.
"Students in high school or college now use mobile technologies far more than their desktops," Irish said.
The department has organized programming this month to improve student awareness of the importance of remaining safe online, including offering incentives such as free espressos to anyone interested in learning about cyber security.
UIT will sponsor a lecture featuring the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) next week called "True Stories from the Cyber Crime Division of the FBI," according to Tufts OnLine Supervisor Judi Vellucci. A special agent will discuss major cyber−crime attacks and how they could have easily been prevented.
Phishing, a technique used by Internet predators to acquire sensitive information by pretending to be trustworthy forms of electronic communication, is one of the main cyber threats of which the Tufts community should be aware, according to Irish.
Institutions of higher education are among the primary targets for phishing attacks because they are not locked−down communities, Irish noted.
"Our community relies on the students' knowledge of the risks posed rather than restrictions on websites you are allowed to visit like some businesses do," Irish said.
Some phishing emails at the beginning of this semester slipped through the spam filters of Tufts email accounts, according to Irish. These emails told students and faculty that due to the recent move to Microsoft Outlook, their email quotas were full and their accounts would be shut down unless usernames and passwords were provided.
The increased use of mobile devices to access email accounts makes users even more vulnerable to phishing attacks.
"People are much more likely to fall for a phishing attack when viewing it on a mobile device," Irish said.
"I don't think I would hesitate much if prompted to follow a link on my phone," freshman Michael Zurier said. "Most people have 3G everywhere so it's not as if we're wasting any time out of our days. People are not usually thinking of the possibility of being hacked on their phones."
Vellucci worries about this type of response to phishing emails by members of the Tufts community.
"We're reaching out to a group of very technically savvy people, but ‘click here' links are the biggest problem," she said. "People click these links randomly just because they say to."
UIT may eventually offer anti−malware software for mobile devices as well as computers, according to Vellucci.
"I can see it coming in our not−too−distant future here at Tufts," Vellucci said.
Irish stressed that with the many risks out there, the importance of mobile cyber security awareness has become greater than ever.
"This means that we just have to be better at educating our community about the dangers of being online," Irish said.
