Emails with malware and dangerous links increase at the start of each semester. That’s why Vice President & CIO Elias Eldayrie sent a campus-wide communication this week, reminding the UF community to be extra vigilant before clicking on a link or opening an attachment in an email. Three ways you can contribute to a secure computing environment at UF are by taking the information security awareness training, reporting suspicious emails, and being mindful when opening an email marked [EXTERNAL EMAIL].
• Last year, 16,526 faculty and staff completed the Protecting UF: Information Security Awareness training. Additionally, 10,878 students completed Protecting UF’s phishing module. All training modules were updated this summer so be sure to complete it when you receive your annual reminder. Faculty, students, and staff can also take the training anytime of the year.
• Report suspicious messages in GatorMail with the phish alert report button. If an email seems suspicious, just highlight it and click on the phish alert report button in the top right of your email. This action sends the potentially dangerous email to UFIT so staff can investigate. In FY23, more than 48,000 emails were reported using this button.
Although 98.5% of phishing messages received from outside UF in FY23 were blocked, some still get through. Be vigilant about what emails you open, especially those flagged with [EXTERNAL EMAIL]. Dive deeper into cyber tips on https://security.ufl.edu/.