According to several alerts from state and national authorities, tensions with Russia and the United States have caused an increased number of cyberattacks, specifically in large institutions in both the private and public sectors.





On February 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General issued an alert warning people of fraud schemes relating to COVID-19. The alert stated that "Individuals are using testing sites, telemarketing calls, text messages, social media platforms, and door-door-door visits to perpetrate COVID-19 scams."
On 18 Jan, 2022, the FBI released a public service announcement, alert number 1-011822-PSA, warning the public that cybercriminals are tampering with Quick Response (QR) codes. The altered QR codes redirect victims to malicious sites to steal login and financial information
A recently discovered FBI training document was obtained earlier this month following a FOIA request filed by Property of the People, a US nonprofit dedicated to government transparency. It appears to contain training advice for what kind of data agents can obtain from the operators of encrypted messaging services and the legal processes they have to go through.





One of the most common cyber attacks involves sending e-mails posing as friends, professors and coworkers. Attackers are hoping you share your credentials and other personal information that they can use to compromise your account.
Learn how to identify and protect yourself against Spam and Phishing attacks HERE.
Need to quickly report a phishing or spam e-mail? Cofense Reporter lets Fordham members easily report and delete spam and phishing e-mails. The Cofense Reporter button is available to use once you log into your Fordham Gmail account.
Learn how to use Cofense Reporter HERE.
Ransomware attacks are on the rise and can cripple entire businesses and institutions. Attackers are looking to encrypt and lock your data so that you or your organization will have to pay money to get it back.
Learn more about Ransomware and how to protect yourself HERE.
Cybersecurity Tips
Cybersecurity is the shared responsibility of everyone. Students, staff and faculty alike can help contribute to an enviroment of safe online practices. There are many things you can do to help keep everyone’s information safe.
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Use a hard to guess password with special characters and random numbers.
Refrain from including dictionary words and instead use abbreviations or acronyms of phrases you'll remember. Include random numbers and special characters, such as #, to make it more secure against password cracking software. Never share your password with anyone else. -
Never download links or attachments from untrusted e-mails and websites.
When presented a link from an e-mail or webpage, hover your mouse over the link to make sure the URL is recognizable. For example, if you intend to download something from Microsoft and you see the URL is from “microzooft.com”, then most likely the link is not legitimate and possibly malicious. -
Avoid using public Wi-Fi and computers when traveling.
When using an open wireless network, other people may be able to sniff and view your online traffic. Do not conduct sensitive activities such online shopping, banking or university work. If you must, only visit sites that start with "https://" and not "http://". Be cautious of using public computers in places like hotels, libraries and cyber cafes as they may have malware and key loggers installed. -
Protect and watch over your devices when traveling and in public.
To prevent theft of your devices, always check your surroundings and make sure your devices are within eye sight. Do not leave phones, laptops, USB and external hard drives unattended. Ensure your work devices and hard drives are encrypted before traveling. For more information, see the top menu of this page under Resources > Disk Encryption for Fordham's Encryption Policies. -
Don’t leave confidential information out in the open.
If you are handling confidential information with anyone's personal identifiable information, make sure to lock your computer or keep papers locked away in a secure space.