The holiday season is approaching, and gift card scams are a common tactic used to steal your money. Understanding how this scam works and staying alert can help you avoid becoming a victim.
How the gift card scam works
Gift card scams start with a call, text, email, or social media message. Scammers will try every trick to get you to buy gift cards and hand over the card number and PIN codes. :
Continue reading “Watch out for gift card scams: protect your money and stay safe”
Adobe held the annual Adobe MAX creativity conference on Oct. 14-16 It showcased digital art, design, video, photography, and more.
If you missed it, you can view the recordings of the sessions. The sessions include:
Visit Adobe’s MAX conference page to view the sessions.
The Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab offers a variety of IT equipment that students, faculty and staff can check out for free. Available equipment includes laptops, digital camcorders and cameras, projectors and more.
Equipment reservations can be made by calling 785-532-4918 or emailing
itcheckout@k-state.edu. Equipment can be picked up at the Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab, Hale Library, Room 235.
Please bring the following with you when you come to checkout equipment:
See the Equipment Checkout website for details on policies, procedures, and available equipment. Office hours: M-F, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
With the increasing reliance on digital tools and online platforms in education, it’s crucial to ensure that sensitive student information remains confidential and protected from unauthorized access.
Student data includes everything from names and contact details to grades, disciplinary records, and even health information. Unauthorized access or exposure of this data can lead to identity theft, reputational harm, and violations of privacy laws, such as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Continue reading “Protecting student data”
Excel is a powerful tool for managing and analyzing data. Conditional formatting allows you to apply formatting to cells based on specific conditions. This can help you identify important information in your spreadsheet and make your data more visually appealing.
How to apply apply formatting
Note:
For more information on conditional formatting, see Microsoft’s Use Conditional formatting to highlight information article.
Phishing scams are messages designed to look like they’re from a trusted source. You may open what you thought was a safe email, attachment or image only to find you have been exposed to malware or a scammer looking for your personal data. You can take precautions to protect your data. Be aware of the signs and report phishing to protect devices and data.
Recognize the common signs
Resist and report
Think before you click. More than 90% of successful cyberattacks start with a phishing email. If you receive a suspected phishing email, immediately report the email to abuse@k-state.edu.
Delete
Delete the message. Don’t reply or click on any attachment or link, including any “unsubscribe” link. The unsubscribe button could also carry a link used
for phishing. Just delete.
If a message looks suspicious, it’s probably phishing. But even if there’s a possibility it could be real, don’t click any link, attachment or call any number.
Look up another way to contact a company or person directly: Go to a company’s website to find their contact information. Call the individual at a known number and confirm whether they sent the message
Our online world needs to be protected. There are easy things we can
do to ensure our information is safe from those wishing to steal it.
Recognize & report phishing
Most successful online intrusions result from a recipient of a “phishing”
message accidentally downloading malware or giving their personal
information to a spammer. Do not click or engage with these phishing
attempts. Instead, recognize them by their use of alarming language
or offers that are too good to be true.
Report the phish and delete phishing messages.
Use strong passwords
Simple passwords can be guessed. Make passwords at least
16 characters long, random and unique for each account.
Use a password manager, a secure program that maintains
and creates passwords. This easy-to-use program will store
passwords and fill them in automatically on the web. Continue reading “4 tips to stay safe online”
Microsoft Teams is a hub for collaboration, allowing you to streamline communication, file sharing, and project management. Whether you’re new to Teams or looking to sharpen your skills, these tips can help you work more efficiently and stay organized.
Organize channels with tabs
Add tabs at the top of your team channels for quick access to important files, apps, or websites. Tabs let you bring the tools you use most right to where you collaborate.
To add a tab Click the “+” button at the top of any channel and then select what you would like to add.
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Use @Mentions to flag someone’s attention
Need someone’s immediate input? Use @mentions to notify team members or groups. When you type “@” followed by their name, Teams will send them an alert, making sure they see your message. You can @mention the whole team, a specific channel, or an individual.
Avoid overusing @mentions to prevent overwhelming your colleagues with notifications. Continue reading “Boost your Microsoft Teams skills with these quick tips”
Kansas State University is committed to maintaining the highest level of cybersecurity for our community. To strengthen our defenses, all devices connecting to K-State’s network must have antivirus software installed and kept updated.
CrowdStrike is the antivirus solution for university-owned devices. It is not licensed for personal use. For antivirus protection on personally-owned devices, see the options below.
Installing CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike Falcon is automatically installed on all Windows domain-joined computers. For Mac OS systems or specific non-domain-joined Windows machines, you can manually install CrowdStrike Falcon by following these instructions.
Personally-owned devices
Personal-owned devices are still required to use an antivirus solution and keep it updated when connecting to the K-State network. This ensures the safety and integrity of our network and the personal information of all our users.
The following are antivirus solutions for personal use:
If you have any questions, contact the IT Service Desk at 800-865-6143 or 785-532-7722 or via Live Chat. For in-person support, come to the IT Service Desk on the second floor of Hale Library.
Ransomware is malicious software that locks your data or your entire device and demands a ransom to unlock it. Cybercriminals may promise to return your files if you pay, but there’s no guarantee they’ll follow through.
How Does It Spread?
Ransomware often comes through phishing emails, malicious websites, or infected downloads. You might think you’re clicking a harmless link or attachment, but once you do, the ransomware installs itself and begins encrypting your files.
At K-State, we’ve seen an increase in phishing attempts targeting students, faculty, and staff. Our Security Intelligence and Operation Center (SIOC) is actively monitoring these threats, but individual vigilance is critical to protect personal and institutional data.
How Can You Protect Yourself? Continue reading “Protect Yourself from Ransomware: What You Need to Know”
