Kansas State University

search

IT News

Category: Email

Phishing Scam Alert: Apply now for emergency relief funds scam

Phishing ScamsA new phishing scam is currently targeting colleges and universities. The scam email notifies students, faculty, and staff that federal government funds are available and asks the recipient to apply for the grant money and provide their personal data. Do not click the link; this is a scam.

Some hints that the email is a scam include:

  • Misspellings
  • Typos
  • Poor grammar
  • Fake web address

When in doubt, forward the email to abuse@ksu.edu and then delete the email. Continue reading “Phishing Scam Alert: Apply now for emergency relief funds scam”

eID and eID Passwords

All K-State employees, students, and those needing access to university computing systems are required to have an eID. Your eID is used to enroll in classes, access Canvas, view online paychecks, and much more. Your eID is also part of your K-State email address: eID@k-state.edu or eID@ksu.edu. To learn more about your eID, view the following information.

Continue reading “eID and eID Passwords”

Disclaimer to be added to K-State emails

Most email scams and phishing attacks originate from outside of K-State. As part of our efforts to decrease phishing and other email scams, K-State will be adding a banner to email messages that originate outside of our university beginning March 2. This provides a visual indicator for users that the message was not sent from a user within K-State.

This email originated outside of K-State

The goal of the disclaimer is to raise awareness about these scams and to be cautious. 

Phishing emails are becoming more sophisticated and compelling. The text may include urgency, threats of loss of access, requests to change passwords, or fines if the user doesn’t respond. The sender’s email address can even be spoofed to appear as if it came from a K-State student, faculty or staff. Tagging these emails with a disclaimer is our way of providing information so users can make an informed decision about receiving, opening, etc.

If you have any questions, contact the IT Help Desk (helpdesk@k-state.edu).

 

Phishing scam targets remote workers

Scam Alert!As employees continue to work remotely, cyber-attacks are on the rise. The latest attack is the “Return to Office” phishing scam. This scam has already targeted 100,000 inboxes.

Scammers are sending email messages to individuals outlining the process for an employee to return to the workplace. The email can include safety protocols and usually includes a short deadline for when employees must acknowledge that they have received this message and complete a form. Continue reading “Phishing scam targets remote workers”

New eID password standards

Password standard changes are here

On April 8, K-State adopted new eID password standards. With these updated standards, most K-Staters will need to change their passwords only one more time and no longer be required to change their eID password every 180 days. If you have already changed your password since April, you will not receive a password change reminder email.

What do I need to do?

When you get the password change reminder email, change your password using the new password standards. Keep the following in mind:

  • Using a passphrase is one of the easiest ways to create a strong password.
  • After you change your password, you will not need to change your password again unless your password becomes compromised.
  • If you are required to change your password more often because of the job you perform, you will still need to follow those job-specific password guidelines.

Continue reading “New eID password standards”

Email message encryption now available in Office 365

The Division of Information Technology has enabled the ability to encrypt email messages in Office 365.
Email encryption encodes the content of email messages to protect potentially sensitive information from being read by anyone other than intended recipients. Encryption makes the content of your emails unreadable as they travel to the recipient. If your message happens to be intercepted by a hacker, they can’t interpret the content.

 

Emails can be encrypted for both K-State and external recipients. See the knowledge base article for instructions on how to use this feature.

If you have any questions, contact the IT Help Desk (helpdesk@k-state.edu).

K-State’s new eID password standards begin April 8

On Wednesday, April 8, K-State’s eID password standards are changing. With these updated standards, most K-Staters will need to change their passwords only one more time and no longer be required to change their eID password every 180 days.

What do I need to do?

When you get the password change reminder email, change your password using the new password standards. Keep the following in mind:

  • If you changed your password before April 8, you will receive a 180-day reminder email and will be required to change your password again. After that password change, you will not need to change your password again unless your password becomes compromised.
  • If you are required to change your password more often because of the job you perform, you will still need to follow those job-specific password guidelines.

Continue reading “K-State’s new eID password standards begin April 8”

K-State’s new eID password standards

Currently, K-Staters are required to change their eID password every 180 days. On Wednesday, April 8, K-State’s eID password standards are changing. With these updated standards, most K-Staters will need to change their passwords only one more time.

What do I need to do?

Right now, nothing. Before the change, you received an email every 180 days, reminding you to change your password. After April 8, the next time you get the reminder email, change your password using the new password standards. After that password change, you will not need to change your password again unless your password becomes compromised. Keep the following in mind:

  • If you change your password before April 8, you will receive a 180-day reminder email and will be required to change your password again. After that password change, you will not need to change your password again unless your password becomes compromised.
  • If you are required to change your password more often because of the job you perform, you will still need to follow those job-specific password guidelines.

Continue reading “K-State’s new eID password standards”

Malware filtering applied to email attachments

Office 365 and Outlook logosIn an ongoing effort to keep K-State’s systems and services safe, malware filtering has been activated for K-State’s email. The filter protects the mail system and individual mailboxes from malicious software by blocking attachments that are commonly used to transmit viruses or malicious software.

The malware filtering is applied to all K-State email: Office 365 webmail and Outlook. All incoming and outgoing email is filtered. Go to File Attachment Types Blocked By K-State Email to view a complete listing of the filetypes currently being blocked, along with common file extensions for the specific filetypes. Continue reading “Malware filtering applied to email attachments”

Auto-update temporarily unavailable for LISTSERV mailing lists

by Information Technology Services

K-State’s LISTSERV service  is working and sending mail to all  current  LISTSERV recipients. However, after the Hale fire, the service that automatically updates existing lists and allows the generation of new populations for  LISTSERV mailing lists has stopped functioning.

Because of critical university needs, key mailing lists have been given special consideration and are being updated daily: