By Casey Sadler | Reporter
Baylor Information Technology Services (ITS) is recognizing Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October by sharing new and improved ways to stay safe and secure online.
In 2021, 1,043 schools were victims of malicious cyberattacks — including breaches of 26 colleges or universities — indicating a growing need for enhanced cybersecurity awareness on a multitude of campuses.
Baylor ITS is currently promoting its #BearAware campaign to advocate for greater cybersecurity on Baylor’s campus. Advertisements for cybersecurity in the form of memes, such as the confused Spider-Man at the Bill Daniel Student Center, can be found around campus spaces, advertising various cyber tips for students, faculty and staff.
“We partner very closely with a national organization,” Carl Flynn, director for marketing and communications in information technology, said. “We feature some of the tips that they are highlighting.”
Flynn said Baylor partners with the National Cybersecurity Alliance in order to provide students, faculty and staff with the most up-to-date cybersecurity information. The National Cybersecurity Alliance is a nonprofit organization that partners with governments and corporations to “foster a greater ‘digital’ good.”
Baylor ITS sent students an email in July stating, “We are experiencing a number of different issues caused by people who are authorizing DUO notifications generated by bad actors who are using phished passwords to access Baylor accounts.” Baylor ITS warned students to be cautious of these attempts, as DUO Two-Factor Authentication protects students’ “personal data, institutional data, bank account numbers for direct deposit [and] other vital data.”
“I would say the biggest thing we’re seeing right now — and it just happened in the last couple of days — is the DUO exhaustion,” Will Telfer, information security analyst, said. “The malicious actors will send pushes until the person gets so exhausted of seeing the notification that they just accept it.”
On Oct. 5, Baylor ITS sent an email reminder to be aware of cybersecurity and informed students of the three new security tools it would be implementing: Verified DUO Push, DUO Multi-Factor Authentication and Cybersecurity Training.
The email said DUO Multi-Factor Authentication is a new form of DUO that encapsulates the Verified DUO Push option. It requires two forms of authentication when logging into your Baylor account. First, a push notification is sent to your device; then, you will be required to enter a six-digit code to complete the login.
“We are only rolling that out on Office 365, which mainly will affect email, Ignite — which is for employees and student workers — BearWeb or Banner and then VPN,” Telfer said.
The cybersecurity training course launched on Oct. 17 and must be completed by all faculty and staff by Nov. 11. At this time, students are not required to take the course, according to the Baylor ITS website.
Telfer said keeping personal information safe and secure from online threats should be a priority. To achieve this, he said students should follow important cyber advice, such as being wary of fraudulent emails or suspicious text messages and never approving DUO notifications that they did not initiate themselves.
For more cybersecurity tips, visit the Baylor ITS website.
