Today’s hackers are smart. They can impersonate another person or organization. The most recent phishing scam sent to MCC attempted to impersonate Monroe Community College.
A “phishing” email is one that is sent that appears to be from a trusted source, but is not, and contains a link to click on that will give the malicious source your sensitive information. Do Not click on links in emails unless you can verify the source is who they appear to be.
How can you tell? In the most recent phishing attack here at MCC there are two telltale signs that although the email appeared to be from MCC, it was not:
1) The email address said Monroecommunitycolleges and was @gmail.com The first part of an authentic MCC email is @monroecc, and the domain is .edu
2) If you hover your cursor over the link in the email (remember, never click on it!), you will see that the URL is not from MCC.
The phishing scam attempts to trick you into giving up your credentials. Did you know that 93% of data breaches begin via email? If you fell for this phishing scam you would have granted the hacker access to MCC’s network and any sensitive data you have access too. Clicking on it can also result in your email address being used to send further phishing attempts, in which case your account will be disabled by Technology Services.
Email is NOT a secure way to share sensitive information. MCC will NOT ask you to send passwords, login names, Social Security Numbers, or other personal information through email. Be advised that Technology Services will never request your password, nor will we ask you to change or "validate" your password at a website.
If you accidentally respond to a phishing message, or you believe that your account has been compromised, contact MCC’s Help Desk at 292-4324 (TECH) (option #3 for employees) immediately.
Donna Pogroszewski
Communications and Network Services
09/22/2016 |