ITS has received reports about emails being distributed with no subject from several compromised Denison email accounts. The email that appears to be from “noreply@denison.edu”  or “Help Desk” with no subject and a message in the email body that starts with “ATTN: Due to the recent reports…” is a scam. Please do not click on the link in the message. The message is not from Denison. It is another fraudulent attempt (aka phishing attack) to gather your username and password.

If you are using Denison Apps Mail:

Open the message and click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report phishing” in the menu that appears. (Note: if “Report phishing” does not appear as an option and “Report not phishing” appears instead then the message is already flagged as phishing.)

This reports the phishing attack to Google and improves the identification and blocking of future phishing attacks. After you report it, please delete the message.

NOTE: this option is only available in the web (Gmail) interface for Denison Apps. It is not available if you are using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or another client to access your Denison Apps email.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to or click links in this or any emails that request computer account or other personal information. They are an attempt to steal, at minimum, your email or other computer account, at maximum, your identity.

If you replied to it in any fashion, please immediately change your password by logging in to MyDenison and choosing “Change your BigRedID password” from the My Apps menu. Please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395 if you have any questions or concerns.

Due to infrastructure upgrades at the host site, Blackboard will experience intermittent outages early Saturday AM (from 2:00-6:00AM). ITS recommends that you plan on not using Blackboard during this time. While you may be able to access Blackboard during much of this time, you run the risk of losing information you are submitting if a service interruption occurs.

If you experience problems with Blackboard after the outage, please report the problem to the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu.

The email that appears to be from “noreply@denison.edu” with no subject and a message in the email body that says “Confidential message Enter here to retrieve.” is a scam. Please do not click on the link in the message. The message is not from Denison. It is another fraudulent attempt (aka phishing attack) to gather your username and password.

If you are using Denison Apps Mail:

Open the message and click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report phishing” in the menu that appears. (Note: if “Report phishing” does not appear as an option and “Report not phishing” appears instead then the message is already flagged as phishing.)

This reports the phishing attack to Google and improves the identification and blocking of future phishing attacks. After you report it, please delete the message.

NOTE: this option is only available in the web (Gmail) interface for Denison Apps. It is not available if you are using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or another client to access your Denison Apps email.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to or click links in this or any emails that request computer account or other personal information. They are an attempt to steal, at minimum, your email or other computer account, at maximum, your identity.

If you replied to it in any fashion, please immediately change your password by logging in to MyDenison and choosing “Change your BigRedID password” from the My Apps menu. Please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395 if you have any questions or concerns.

Over Winter Break, ITS announced the availability of a new “Cyber-Security – Phishing 101” online training module – with a quick quiz – to help folks sharpen their email scam detection skills.

To sweeten the pot a little more, anyone taking the quiz before 1/27/16 and earning a score of 80% or above was entered in a drawing for one of five $15 Denison Dollars awards.

More than 200 students, faculty, and staff answered the call, taking the Phishing Quiz by the deadline. The lucky $15 Denison Dollars drawing winners are:

• Bobby Craig, Class of 2018
• Steve Crawford, Alumni Relations
• Tristan Domville, Class of 2018
• Amy Elliott, Doane Library
• Melissa Engleman, Doane Library

Haven’t taken the Phishing Quiz yet?

While the drawing is over, the Phishing Module is still available! If you haven’t had a chance to review the brief presentation and take the quiz, ITS strongly encourages you to do so. We are continuing to see phishing attacks directed at Denison University accounts. When hackers are successful in obtaining account information, they can wreak havoc in your email account.

To get started, look under “My Courses” in Blackboard for the “IT Security” course. Within it you’ll find the announcement and link to the Phishing module.

If you have any email-related questions or concerns, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 740-587-6395 or helpdesk@denison.edu.

ITS has prepared a brief presentation and quiz to help you detect fake emails attempting to lure you into divulging your login information to hackers. Take the quiz by 1/27/16 and earn a score of 80% or higher and you’ll be entered to win one of five $15 Denison Dollar gift certificates!

Get Started Now! Go to MyDenison and click the Blackboard (Bb) icon in the top right corner. Under “My Courses” in Blackboard, click the “IT Security Training” link and then click the “/ Training Modules/Cyber Security – Phishing 101” link and follow the on-screen instructions.

Get Smart! Hackers constantly try new ways to get you to share your login information and other personal details that, if shared, could cause you a lot of grief and even potential harm.Unfortunately, hackers continue to repeatedly send “phishing” emails to university email addresses all over the world, including Denison – attempting to trick folks into divulging their login information. When successful, these hackers step up their invasive activities – using the information to not only send spam emails but also to automatically delete messages from inboxes, change “display names” on accounts, and other highly disruptive activities. Help protect yourself and Denison by improving your ability to spot fake emails!

Questions? Contact the ITS Help Desk at 740-587-6395 or helpdesk@denison.edu.

UPDATE: 1/7/16 3 p.m. Consort system is partially restored. It is available for use until we can schedule a more complete repair.

ITS is working with the Library and the vendor to address a CONSORT outage that began on Wed. 1/6/16. This post will be updated as soon as service is restored. If you would like to be notified when CONSORT is available, please email the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu.

The email pretending to be from “Denison University” from a students.towson.edu email address with a subject of “Your Denison account Certificate expired on the 09-12-2015” is a scam. Please do not click on the link in the message. The message is not from Denison. It is another fraudulent attempt (aka phishing attack) to gather your username and password.

If you are using Denison Apps Mail:

Open the message and click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report phishing” in the menu that appears. (Note: if “Report phishing” does not appear as an option and “Report not phishing” appears instead then the message is already flagged as phishing.)

This reports the phishing attack to Google and improves the identification and blocking of future phishing attacks. After you report it, please delete the message.

NOTE: this option is only available in the web (Gmail) interface for Denison Apps. It is not available if you are using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or another client to access your Denison Apps email.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to or click links in this or any emails that request computer account or other personal information. They are an attempt to steal, at minimum, your email or other computer account, at maximum, your identity.

If you replied to it in any fashion, please immediately change your password by logging in to MyDenison and choosing “Change your BigRedID password” from the My Apps menu. Please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395 if you have any questions or concerns.

You receive an email saying you must click a link or reply to verify your email account – or bank account – or mailing address. What should you do?

DOUBT IT AND DON’T RESPOND!

Hackers are aggressively targeting universities, including Denison, with waves of “phishing” emails designed to lure folks to provide their email usernames and passwords. With this information, the hackers can do anything in your email account that you can do. This includes:

• downloading all your contacts and sending them emails that appear to be from you.
• using your email account to send large volumes of emails all over the world.
• downloading your email messages.
• setting up a forward to send email messages you receive to another email account.
• deleting your email messages.
• gaining access to other accounts for which you use the same username and password.
• and more…

Unfortunately, several Denison email accounts were compromised this week as a result of “phishing” emails pretending to be from the “Help desk” or “Admin”.

To learn more about how to recognize phishing emails and what to do if you think you may have responded to a phishing email, please visit MyDenison and use the search box in the top right corner to search for “phishing” and select “Beware of Phishing Emails!” in the results list.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 740-587-6395 or helpdesk@denison.edu.