The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) warns citizens to remain vigilant for malicious cyber activity seeking to capitalize on interest in and devastation from Hurricane Florence*. Emails and social media posts requesting donations from duplicitous charitable organizations commonly appear after major natural disasters. We advise the TTU community to exercise caution in handling any email with subject line, attachments, or hyperlinks related to Hurricane Florence, even if it appears to originate from a trusted source. Fraudulent communication will often contain links or attachments that direct users to phishing or malware-infected websites. In some cases, these attempts to steal your identity are very sophisticated, complete with professional logos and fluent grammar.
The TTU IT Division and US-CERT recommend the following cybersecurity practices to protect yourself and TTU resources from this and other email scams:
- Verify the legitimacy of any email solicitation by contacting the organization directly through a trusted contact number. You can find trusted contact information for many charities at the following locations:
- Do not click on links contained within an email, unless you are certain of the sender’s identity and expecting the information;
- Do not open attachments, unless you are certain of the sender’s identity and expecting the information;
- Delete and do not reply to any suspicious or suspect emails;
- Update your desktop, laptop, and/or mobile device anti-virus software; and
- Keep current on critical system updates:
We encourage you to practice cybersecurity, and to be aware of these activities designed to steal institutional and personal data. You can find additional cybersecurity tips online at http://www.cybersecurity.ttu.edu. For more information or questions, please contact IT Help Central at (806) 742-4357 (HELP) or via email at ithelpcentral@ttu.edu.
*Source: https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2018/09/14/Potential-Hurricane-Florence-Phishing-Scams
