A student logs into their university email and sees they have received a message seeming to be from the registrar’s office and the message reads something to the likeness of “your student account information is in need of confirmation ‘click here’ to login and confirm your current enrollment information.” The link placed in the email takes them to a domain which looks to be formatted like any page would be on the university website and appears to be safe. The student types in their password and login information and clicks enter. Where the process takes them from there is of little concern.
What is of concern is that this student has just fallen victim to what is known as a phishing attack. While this is not a true scenario, it is based on events happening around the world at an alarming rate.
Alec Muthig, IT Trainer through IT/Client Support Services at the University of Wyoming said phishing attacks are a regular occurrence and are highly concerning on college campuses all around the world due to the quantity of personal information which is stored in databases throughout university networks. The person or entities on the other end of the attack gains access to the university network where, with a little bit of knowhow, can access the records of thousands of students and faculty members.
These records contain sensitive information such as social security numbers, home addresses, salary and pay information and insurance information which can all be used to steal identities and cause damage to the lives of many. It only takes one person following the path a hacker has crafted to wreak havoc on an entire network.
“Don’t just blindly follow instructions, which is hard because as students we are trained to follow instructions, but when you get an email, you should always question it,” Mike Borowczak, Professor and Director of the Cybersecurity Education and Research Center at the University of Wyoming, said.
UW faces threats not only in regard to personal information, but also the intellectual property of researchers, which in many cases is highly sensitive and sought-after information said Alec Muthig, IT Trainer.
Lisa Stafford, Executive Computer Support Specialist with the Department of Information Technology at UW, shared that there are three very common attack methods that have surfaced across the university network. The top two are phishing attacks and ransomware attacks. The third as stressed upon by Borowczak is clickbait, through social media outlets, especially accessed on school computers.
For a person who does not have much knowledge about information technology and/or has never experienced a cyberattack these methods may not hold much meaning but knowing what they are and the motive behind the attacks is of extreme importance for potential victims so an attack in action may be recognized and thwarted.
Think about the network as if it is a residence and you want to protect the people in the home if there is ever a fire. If a fire starts in the kitchen and is not detected in time it will spread throughout the house in a quick manner. Now for the best alert protection, there will be smoke detectors placed throughout the entire home to signal to all residents that they need to evacuate the premises. The flames are rapidly seeking new areas to burn just as a hacker is seeking new points of vulnerability where they can personally gain something. The majority of attacks are directed toward financial gain.
“Cybercrime exists because there is profit to be made,” Borowczak said. “Very little cybercrime is not influenced by capital at some point. The selling and trading of information on the dark web is just about making more money.”
The information gleaned from infiltrating a university network may not be important to the person or entity who initially hacked the system other than for the financial gain created by selling said information to third parties.
There are a few ways to recognize that an attack is in progress along with ways to attempt attacks from occurring.
Detecting and avoiding phishing attack threats
Phishing attacks are best described as an attempt made by a hacker to trick a victim into believing the actions being requested are trustworthy according to Heimdal Security Evangelist and writer Paul Cucu. In comparison to the house on fire scenario when the student followed the link to confirm enrollment information and the email along with the link were formally and visually convincing.
Always question the links and/or the downloads you are exposed to on any forum whether it be a personal or professional email or a pop-up telling you that your computer has been compromised so download this antivirus software, Borowczak advises.
Little do you know; the antivirus software is actually a possible attack in progress. Blindly clicking can create destruction and devastation to you as well as others who access and have sensitive information on the same network you are connected to. Make sure to always cross-reference the cues being placed in your sights as to avoid becoming the victim of a phishing attack.
The threat of ransomware attacks
According to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness team website, ransomware is a form of malware which restricts access to data on a person’s computer typically by encrypting it. Then demanding a ransom be paid in order for the data to be accessible again and it is “typically spread through phishing emails that contain malicious attachments and drive-by downloading. Drive-by downloading occurs when a user unknowingly visits an infected website and malware is downloaded and installed without their knowledge.”
The recent ransomware attack on Atlanta, Georgia, which left five of the cities’ 13 local government departments digitally disrupted is a great example of just how devastating ransomware can be, according to an article published by Wired regarding the attack. This attack left the agencies going back to the pen to paper method of keeping records, which can be a hinderance in the fast paced, digitalized modern society we live in.
According to the Wired article, SamSam, first discovered in 2015, is the entity behind the attack and attacks such as this will happen again if government agencies’ security strategies continue to evolve as concepts of technology evolve.
Don’t click the clickbait, come on don’t do it
Clickbait is a term used to describe a psychology-based form of advertisement to attract the attention of the user to follow the link to a specific webpage. What people do not realize is that by clicking on these links they may be exposed to malicious software, or malware threats. A common place for clickbait advertising is on social media websites and when a student logs onto a social media forum on a university computer and follows a clickbait link they are potentially putting the network in danger of attack, IT trainer Muthig said.
Clickbait can be found on the majority of websites visited on a daily basis. One way to downsize the amount of advertisement from clickbait is to turn off the cookies in your internet setting, Kyle Clayson, a senior studying Computer Science at UW, said.
Preparation and protection against cyberattacks
There are a few simple ways to prevent or minimize attacks from occurring to you as shared by Borowczak and Muthig.
First: creative and non-relational password creation. It is very important to never use the same password in more than one place. Use a variety of letters, numbers and symbols and update your password on a regular basis, every three months is what Borowczak recommends.
Another prevention method is multifactor authentication methods where you type in your password and then a code is also sent to your phone for you to confirm it is in fact you accessing the account. This is a security measure to protect from unwanted logins.
It is also important to implement the regular system updates on your personal devices as the updates are created to patch points of vulnerability in your system, a tip stressed by Muthig.
Knowledge is power, a well-known phrase that in this digital age could be argued to be truer now more than ever. Borowczak discussed the idea of requiring a course for incoming freshman focusing specifically on computer security practices.
“In the long run of things, I think that [a computer security course] would be helpful and good knowledge to have for your adult life,” Courtney Olson, UW undergraduate student in Communications and Marketing, said.
If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask. There are resources across UW campus including UWIT services and the CEDAR center, which is available to assist you with all of your information technology, needs and concerns with computer safety.
“If you don’t know, ask,” Borowczak said.
