Information Security Awareness Training
The University of Oxford have developed an online security awareness training module. The training module takes you through your responsibilities, spells out the risks, and explains how to protect the information you work with.
New staff to the University must take the module on the commencement of their role, and all staff need to retake it annually. A 75% minimum score is required to successfully complete the information security awareness module.
Passwords
As described in the previous section (University of Oxford IT User Accounts and their associated Services), you will use a number of different accounts within the University. It is incredibly important to ensure each account is secured with a strong password that only you know. The University's information security pages offer useful recommendations on creating a strong password.
Avoiding Email Scams
As the University of Oxford is a high-profile institution, our various accounts and their details are a prime target for email phishing attacks. A phishing email can look extremely convincing, so it is incredibly important to know how to identify it .
Elements to look out for are:
- asking you for a password, PIN or other personal information
- asking you to open an attachment or 'make a donation'
- poor spelling and grammar
- using generic greetings such as 'Dear Bank Customer' or 'Dear Email User'
- using a fake ('spoofed') email address - perhaps even your own
Please familiarise yourself with the information on how to recognise phishing emails and if you’re ever in doubt as to whether an email is legitimate or not please feel free to contact us for advice.
