Anyone can be targeted by a cybercriminal.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month — a time to take measure of how cyber secure you are. Anyone can be a target at home and at work. Here at the University of Calgary, IT Security responds to:

• an average of 90 malware attacks launched against UCalgary accounts each week. 
• over 100 potential incidents every month. 
• around 950 people who report phishing incidents targeting UCalgary accounts each month. 

These cybersecurity incidents are targeted at students, faculty and staff — no one is immune from the threat of a cyber crime. Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Most attacks happen because of human error, not because criminals break through firewalls and other security measures. A simple click can lead to a phishing incident and consequences such as potentially losing your identity and personal assets. 

Cybercriminals are always refining their methods to get you to click

Cybercriminals are good at what they do and are continually refining their methods to get you to take action. This might be clicking on a link or attachment that unknowingly downloads malware to your computer, getting you to input your username and password so they can gain access to your account, or some other action so they can take advantage.

They use timely information and research their targets. For example, some of the current scams focus on COVID-19. From fraudulent Canada Emergency Response Benefit applications to offers of free medical equipment from known charities, cybercriminals are continually trying new methods to get you to click. So what can you do?

Stay secure. At home. At UCalgary.

Visit it.ucalgary.ca/cybersecurity or follow the IT Twitter account for information on how you can become cybersecure, at home and at UCalgary.

Still have questions or concerns about cybersecurity? Contact UService at it@ucalgary.ca or by telephone 403-210-9300.

Keep up to date on IT outages and news — follow the UCalgary IT Twitter account.