Cyber Smart Starts with You: How We Can Help Campus Stay Smart
Join the Oct. 20 webinar, take the course by Oct. 31 and enter to win a $100 prize
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the University of Colorado’s theme this year is “Cyber Smart Starts with You.” Whether university data stays safe depends on everyday choices, and anyone can make good ones. The campaign’s advice comes down to the Cyber Smart Four:
- A second look. Pause before acting on any unexpected or urgent request, particularly one that involves money or credentials.
- Verification. Confirm the request through a trusted, independent channel, such as contact information you already have for the sender.
- Unique passwords. Use a different password for every account, ideally one that a password manager creates and stores, and use passkeys where they are available.
- Stronger sign-in. Protect your sign-in with stronger authentication and never approve a sign-in you did not initiate.
“The Office of Information Technology spends every day helping people work safely with technology,” said Information Security Officer Sarah Braun. “While OIT is the campus leader in providing secure services, with staff touching all corners of the CU community every day, these four habits are a solid foundation for navigating the digital world safely and working securely is everyone's responsibility.”
Join Webinar: Colleagues across campus who are interested in learning more about the Cyber Smart Four should join the webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from noon to 12:50 p.m. MT. Titled “Would You Trust This Message? Cybersecurity in the Age of AI, Impersonation & Digital Deception,” it features Rob Rudloff, a CU Boulder alumnus who leads the Cyber Security Services team at RubinBrown and has more than 25 years of security experience. He will cover spotting suspicious messages, passwords and password managers, multi-factor authentication, using AI safely and responding to incidents, with time for questions afterward. We encourage everyone who can to attend and to share the Zoom link with the units they support.
Enter to Win: Employees who complete the Information Security Awareness course between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 are entered to win one of ten $100 prizes, with taxes covered. The course takes about 30 minutes, including the quiz, and every CU employee takes it every two years. Employees who are not yet due can still enter by completing it in October. To find it, log in to my.cu.edu, select Percipio and search for “CU Information Security Awareness, course u00063”. Winners will be notified in November.
Learn more about Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
Thank you for the work you do to keep our campus safe.
