Cybersecurity Awareness and Safety

Good morning,

This email is a gentle reminder about the importance of cybersecurity awareness and online safety. We all have read the news about large organizations being victimized by cyber criminals.

It is important to recognize potential cyber scams that come through email/text/phone/websites/etc. Cyber criminals have improved their ability to convincingly masquerade as a close friend, a supervisor, colleague, or a vendor to request confidential information, invoice payments, or what have you from targeted individuals. We all need to be on the alert.

We all have a responsibility to safeguard ourselves and our data such as student education records, sensitive personal information (e.g., names with social security numbers), and other protected data.

To help us become more cyber aware, the college and district technology offices are working together to introduce a training resource to help raise awareness regarding cybersecurity and the dangers of phishing messages. In addition, our technology departments will soon begin sending simulated phishing messages to our users. Those who “take the bait” will automatically receive a link to training materials. For full-time employees, please complete the training sessions as time allows. For part-time employees, the training is optional, but highly recommended.

If you receive a phishing email, simply delete it or click on the “Report Phishing” button to report it. For cybersecurity and data protection tips, or to report a cyber incident, go to “Cybersecurity Incident Report and Tips” under the SCCCD Resource Links in My Portal.

Do your part, be cybersmart!

Regards,

Dr. Carole Goldsmith
Chancellor