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Phishing campaigns using text messaging have recently been on the uptick. Users recieve a text message supposedly from a supervisor or someone known and trusted.  Typically, these come from unknown phone numbers.

One way to protect yourself is to not respond to the message unless you know that the message is authentic.

Please report any suspected fradulent texting to the FTC at

Protect your community by reporting fraud, scams, and bad business practices.

With everything from our doorbells to our TV's connected to the internet, it is important to keep your home network secure. Here are some easy ways to keep your home network secure. 

1. Make sure your modem and router are not too old. The older they are the more possible vulnerabities they have.
2. Keep your modem and router's software updated. Security patches are always being released.
3. Reboot it monthly. This will remove any potentially malicious software.
4. Change your network name. The default network name can give valuable information to bad actors.
5. Enable WPA3 for your wifi password to keep network activity encrypted.

Read more about how to keep your home network secure 

There is an ongoing phishing campaign targeted at Capital One and other banks users. Users receive an email claiming to be from Authentify, a service that allows for secure information sharing. If you receive an email claiming to be from Authentify be sure to check that the sender is actually who they say they are.

One way to protect yourself against this attack is to not directly open the emailed link and instead access the service through an app or your browser directly. Read more here .

It is not uncommon nowadays to have your social media accounts flooded with fake accounts following or messaging you. As a result the need to be able to distinguish between real and fake accounts is growing. There are four steps that you can take to determine if an account is legitimate.

1. Look at their interactions with other people, if there are not many interactions with other accounts compared to posts it may be fake.
2. Is the account new? If so, and you do not know this person it is possible that it is a spam account.
3. Is the account a celebrity or other public figure? Check for a verification mark, if it does not have one it is likely a fake.
4. Are you or others being spammed by the account with links or? If so it is very likely the account is illegitimate.

If you are ever suspicious of an account, you should block and report it. If the account is real you may always unblock it.

Read more

It is important to be up to date with the changing landscape of cybersecurity with new threats appearing everyday. Get an understanding of core cybersecurity principles and learn how to keep yours and your colleagues information secure in .

Please contact us with any questions or concerns you might have. Also, remember to report anything that seems suspicious!

Email: security@kent.edu
Phone: 330-672-5566

We are open Weekdays from 8AM-5PM