Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks
From: Oscar Knight <knightod () APPSTATE EDU>
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 15:11:12 -0500
Hello All, I initially was a fan of the 'no links' course of action. Thou I never really pushed the idea I did suggest it to our IT group. I got strange looks and was called names that I can't mention here. And in the end I more or less agree. But is there another viable way to point our users in the right direction? I just entered "password" on a dozen edu sites. They all gave me results that would be appropriate if I were a user and in search of info regarding my password and or account. Is it too much to ask the user to enter a search string on the institutions home page? For those that manage their own search appliance you can even create your on search string/results. Example: For more information on changing your password please search "password" on the Baylor/COD/Appstate website. Do I still deserve to be called those names? :) Is anyone doing this as a regular practice? I firmly believe that every time an institution sends a mass communication and users click the link and it all works then trust is built in that communication method. Do this a lot and you get a lot of trust. odk On 12/4/2012 1:31 PM, Tonkin, Derek K wrote:
My initial thought is that it may be more dangerous to teach users that copying and pasting URLs into their browser is safe than to continue to send links. We have a ban on links in emails regarding user accounts. It is a pain and I doubt the degree to which users grasp the concept of us not sending them links when EVERYONE else does. I think awareness training including an address to send suspicious emails to plus being quick to block both the URL and the sender of phishing messages you do discover is the most effective method. Derek Tonkin Information Security Analyst Baylor University ITS - Security "Conlee, Keith"<conlee () COD EDU> wrote: Sorry for the delay, but I am playing catch up. We also have experienced an increase of phishing attacks and a couple users have taken the hook causing us to get blacklisted, etc. and the clean-up that follows. This last phishing attack the sender masqueraded as the "System Administrator" by either spoofing the sender's address, or sending from a previously compromised email account and signing as "System Administrator." It was the old phishing scam warning the user " Your mailbox has exceeded the storage limit." As the IT department we have told our users that we (IT) will never send them an unsolicited email asking them for any sensitive input (e.g. ID and password, etc.). We (IT) are thinking of making a new policy decision that we will not send out any "active" links in email that will take the user to a webpage and ask for their sensitive data (e.g., ID and password). Instead we will provide a description of the webpage they need to go to (e.g. Employee Portal) and provide an "inactive" text link and instruct them to cut and paste (or type) the text into the address bar of their browser (for convenience). It is MOST convenient to just provide the link, but since links !
can be s poofed and take you elsewhere, an inactive text link that can either be cut-and-pasted or typed into a browser location bar provides some convenience and we think is safer. The only way we can go wrong is if our College website gets hacked. ANY THOUGHTS - Good or Bad?
Thanks for any responses. Keith Conlee, JD, CISSP, CISA, CBCP Chief Security Officer, IT College of DuPage 425 Fawell Blvd. Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-6599 Ph. - 630.942.3055 Fax. - 630.790.0325
-- NOTE: ASU ITS will NEVER ask you for your password in an email! Oscar D. Knight knightod at appstate dot edu ITS Voice: 828-262-6946 Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608 FAX: 828-262-2236
Current thread:
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks, (continued)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Amanda Williams (Nov 14)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Steven Tardy (Nov 14)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Joel Rosenblatt (Nov 14)
- Message not available
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Drew Perry (Nov 15)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Valdis Kletnieks (Nov 18)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Bob Bayn (Nov 14)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Bateman, Darrell (Nov 16)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Christopher Jones (Nov 19)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Conlee, Keith (Dec 04)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Tonkin, Derek K (Dec 04)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Oscar Knight (Dec 04)
- Re: Mitigating Phishing Attacks Tonkin, Derek K (Dec 04)
- Mitigating Phishing Attacks Conlee, Keith (Dec 04)