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Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Phishing

When criminals go phishing, you don’t have to take the bait.

Phishing is when criminals use fake emails to lure you into clicking on them and handing over your personal information, or installing malware on your device. It’s easy to avoid a scam email, but only once you know what to look for.

See it so you don’t click it.

The signs can be subtle, but once you recognize a phishing attempt you can avoid falling for it. Here are some quick tips on how to clearly spot a fake phishing e-mail:

• Contains an offer that’s too good to be true
• Language that’s urgent, alarming, or threatening
• Poorly-crafted writing with misspellings, and bad grammar
• Greetings that are ambiguous or very generic
• Requests to send personal information
• Urgency to click on an unfamiliar hyperlinks or attachment
• Strange or abrupt business requests
• Sending e-mail address doesn’t match the company it’s coming from

Oh no! I see a phishing e-mail. What do I do?

Don’t worry, you’ve already done the hard part which is recognizing that an e-mail is fake and part of a criminal’s phishing expedition. Do not click on any links (even the unsubscribe link) or reply back to the e-mail. JUST DELETE IT.

For additional information about phishing, visit www.uaptc.edu/it-services/security

About Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is designed to engage and educate public- and private-sector partners through events and initiatives with the goal of raising awareness about cybersecurity to increase the resiliency of the nation in the event of a cyber incident. Since the Presidential proclamation establishing Cybersecurity Awareness Month in 2004, the initiative has been formally recognized by Congress, federal, state and local governments and leaders from industry and academia. This united effort is necessary to maintain a cyberspace that is safer and more resilient and remains a source of tremendous opportunity and growth for years to come.