The University Of Utah: Students Face Increasing Phishing And Other Cyberattacks

Press release from The University of Utah - Announcements:

November 1, 2021

The University of Utah’s Information Security Office (ISO) has reported a sharp increase in phishing and other types of cyberattacks targeting university student accounts, which have resulted in a growing number of compromised uNID accounts.

The attackers are using phishing and social engineering to gain access to users’ uNID login information, including obtaining the answers to account security questions.

The phishing attacks often impersonate U faculty, staff, students, or organizations to obtain a person’s uNID and password, usually through an email asking the user to verify their account details with a link that redirects to a fake login screen. The social engineering attacks involve manipulating users into performing actions (e.g., buying gift cards) or divulging confidential information.

In addition to obtaining users’ personal information, recent attackers have used a combination of phished and socially-engineered information to reset user passwords, allowing the attackers to keep using compromised accounts even after the password has been changed.

To protect yourself against phishing and other cyberattacks, please help educate your users so they use these IT security best practices:

This press release was produced by The University of Utah - Announcements. The views expressed here are the author’s own.