TTS creates intiatives supporting Cyber Security Awareness Month

Tufts Technology Services (TTS) is aiming to raise awareness among students to help them stay safe online and inform them of services available to keep cyber accounts secure as a part of National Cyber-Security Awareness Month this October, TTS Manager of Service Marketing and Communications Christine Fitzgerald said.

National Cyber-Security Awareness Month was first created in 2004 to give people the knowledge and resources needed to stay safe online and to secure their devices and accounts against attacks, according to Director of Information Security Lorna Koppel.

In past years, efforts by TTS to spread awareness regarding cyber-security had been relatively light, Koppel said.

“Cyber-security awareness at Tufts has been fairly low key over the years with posters, announcements [and] guest talks, but we’re really trying to step up our efforts this year,” Koppel said.

Through its efforts, TTS is aiming to educate the community on what it means to be cyber-aware in order to pass that information on to others, according to Fitzgerald.

“Cyber-security awareness is a shared responsibility,” she said.

According to Koppel, there are two main challenges in cyber-security awareness that TTS is attempting to address. The first is informing students on how to maintain their devices and keep them safe, and the second is helping students recognize that everybody is a target for hackers, she said.

“They’re looking for anybody … any account they can get, even email accounts, and turn into an advantage,” Koppel said.

The awareness campaign offers suggestions to students to keep their devices safe including upgrading software, using different passwords for different accounts, securing emails sent externally and using two-step verification processes, Fitzgerald said.

Koppel said that avoiding phishing attempts is also crucial to maintaining internet security. According to Koppel, phishing is a trick used by hackers to steal information through fake webpages that resemble real, secure ones.

TTS is also trying to acquire more free or affordable anti-virus software for students in order to protect against computer malware, she said.

To make students more aware about cyber-security issues on a day-to-day scale, TTS is planning on implementing small initiatives around campus and online, Koppel said.

According to Koppel, TTS is in the process of creating a mobile app in addition to the regular Tufts mobile app to further increase cyber-security on campus. These efforts and changes are planned to be implemented within the next few weeks and more over the course of the year, Koppel said.

In addition to online efforts, Fitzgerald said that TTS is also hosting more interactive opportunities to increase awareness such as an two-hour open house in Eaton Hall on Oct. 31 and an "online scavenger hunt" for answers to questions surrounding cyber security.

Ming Chow, senior lecturer in the Department of  Computer Science, has also joined awareness efforts, by creating Crack Me if You Can, an annual password cracking contest open to all students.

Chow said that he has been very involved in increasing awareness regarding the importance of cyber security on and off campus. He has been involved in security for ten years and has advocated for bridging the gap between computer science technology and policy, he said.

“Tech people don’t talk to policy makers and vice versa,” Chow said.

Chow said he has recently collaborated with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in creating a course on cyber security and cyber warfare for the spring of 2017 in order to further discussion on cyber security.

National Cyber-Security Awareness events will continue into November with opportunities for students, faculty and staff to become more informed, Fitzgerald told the Daily in an email.