Dear KAUST Community, we know that you have questions about cybersecurity. We have Human Firewall Program, a risk-based security awareness program; we want to help you become more aware of vishing and smishing, both stemming from the well-known phishing tactic.
Phishing is defined as the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in electronic communication, such as email. These can also take the form of ‘vishing’ which is done through a voice or video call and ‘smishing’ which is done via SMS or text messaging.
In addition to educating people on overall information protection, we must understand the growing expectations for protecting our data and personal information. Focusing on tactics the bad guys use to trick us allows us to safeguard our overall digital footprint further.
Cybersecurity is not that hard; you only have to know and follow a few basic steps. This month we will cover why we must promote an overall cyber security posture, understand the risks, and how to best deal with vishing and smishing scams. We will go into more detail throughout the month to include why it matters; for now, remember these high-level points:
- Understand, practice KAUST’s Cybersecurity Awareness and Training Program Standard
- Remember the same general rules from phishing awareness sessions
- When in doubt, verify the sender’s domain
- If it’s too good to be true, it most likely is a phish
- Report any suspicious phone, text, or email to The Information Security Office (ISO) at PhishReporter@kaust.edu.sa.
- And, your common sense is our best defense; trust your gut
Remember: If you have any questions about our activities or suggestions on how to improve our information security efforts, please get in touch with the Information Security Office, which is responsible for The Human Firewall Awareness program, and will be happy to hear from you.
For questions, please email us at askinfosec@kaust.edu.sa.
Information Security Office
KAUST IT
it.kaust.edu.sa
We make IT happen!