TechBits June 2015

June 2015

EMAIL PHISHING ATTEMPTS 

Throughout the semester,  UH has experienced a barrage of phishing emails targeting UH email accounts.

Faculty and staff, YOU ARE TARGETS. If YOUR UH Username is compromised, anyone that you communicated with could be sent a phishing email that the recipient believes to be from you.  Because the recipient trusts you, it is highly likely that they will click on the phishing link and will also be compromised.

The attackers want your UH username and password, and are using several tactics to try and catch you off-guard which include:

– Using compromised UH email accounts (including valid signatures) to send out these phishing emails, which may belong to one of your business or personal contacts
– Threatening termination of your account if you don’t respond
– Asking you to click on a link and login to view a confidential document stored in Dropbox, Google Drive or other cloud storage services
– Impersonating legitimate organizations, such as the IRS

Don’t be victimized by these phishing messages, remember the following:

1. Be vigilant about protecting personal information, such as your UH username and password and your social security number. *NEVER* respond with any personal information (like your social security number) to an unsolicited email.
2. Be careful when clicking on links in unsolicited messages, particularly when the link points to a website that does not begin with www.hawaii.edu or (something).hawaii.edu.
3. Be safe, if you think you may have provided your UH username and password in response to a phishing message, change your password immediately by going to https://www.hawaii.edu/username/ You can also check your Google@UH login activity by following the instructions at: http://www.hawaii.edu/askus/1587

If you have any questions about the validity of an official-looking communication, check the ITS website (http://www.hawaii.edu/its) for a list of reported phishing attempts or contact the ITS Help Desk at help@hawaii.edu or (808) 956-8883.

In response to the ongoing phishing attacks, ITS is launching an anti-phishing campaign: S.E.A.R. the Phish (Stop. Examine. Ask. Report.). More information about this campaign can be found at: http://www.hawaii.edu/infosec/phishing/

*Message courtesy of UH ITS

MID TEAM PARTICIPATES IN TECHLOGIC CONFERENCE

The UHM Dept of Nursing’s MID Team (Multimedia and Instructional Design Team) participated in the 2nd annual TechLogic mini conference this past February.  The conference was a place for members of the UH community to share knowledge about teaching with technology.  The MIDT was invited to discuss their faculty development workshop series called Buzz and Ms. Rachel.  This five episode series highlights major tools in UH’s course management system called Laulima. Characters and a storyline were developed to get faculty motivated and interested in learning new skills to incorporate in their teaching.  

You can view the series here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh90VDOBpxKPm6jqe38_i0YRVHdHI5Hib