Tag Archives: cybersecurity

Units moving forward on enhanced endpoint protection implementation

By | December 9, 2020
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padlock with skull image, wrapped in chaines

In October we reported that, along with other security tools like Virtru at U-M, CrowdStrike Falcon was being rolled out across the university on UM-owned machines. Falcon provides antivirus, anti-malware, and threat detection and mitigation capabilities, all of which offer stronger protection against ransomware and other malicious attacks than previous tools.  Deployment update  CrowdStrike Falcon has been deployed… Read More »

After five years, Let’s Encrypt, a non-profit based on tech developed at Michigan, has helped to secure the internet

By | December 4, 2020
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screens of monitor & smarphone with lock graphic, circle arrows between them

Just five years ago, most websites relied on unencrypted HTTP, the aging and inherently insecure protocol that provides no protection to sites or visitors from threats that range from surveillance through phishing and identity theft. Today, the internet is a much more secure place, with over 80% of websites protected by HTTPS secure encryption. That dramatic transformation –… Read More »

Cybersecurity experts discuss election, research security

By | December 3, 2020
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Ravi Pendse and Javed Ali on Zoom call.

Almost a month after Election Day, experts discussed the threats to election security and cybersecurity and its role within the University of Michigan community in the second installment of the Trotter Distinguished Leadership Series.  Javed Ali, former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, discussed the connections between technology and election security. Ali said the shift towards paper… Read More »

Major side-channel discovery wins NSA contest

By | December 2, 2020
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Spectre ghost image over code in background

The National Security Agency recently recognized a major breakthrough in the field of side-channel attacks as the winner of the 2020 Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper competition. Daniel Genkin, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, worked on the paper with collaborators from around the world. The winning paper, describing an exploit called Spectre, broke open a new… Read More »

Shop online safely

By | December 1, 2020
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hand holding credit card, hovering over laptop keyboard, shopping sites on the monitor

As the holidays approach and the pandemic continues, you are highly likely to be doing more online shopping. Protect yourself from scams and data theft with these tips from ITS Information Assurance. Shop with trustworthy sites and sellers. Stick to businesses you know and trust, and compare descriptions and prices from multiple sellers to help spot scams. Be… Read More »

Support for Sophos Antivirus on UM-owned machines to end December 2020

By | November 30, 2020
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A laptop with a magnifying glass and a shield hovering over it.

Support for Sophos Antivirus installed on U-M machines will end on December 31, 2020. Enhanced Endpoint Protection powered by CrowdStrike replaces Sophos. The Sophos product will continue to work, but will not be updated, and quickly will become deprecated. If you are responsible for managing university Macs, please ensure that you transition them to CrowdStrike Falcon for endpoint… Read More »

Cybersecurity Month wrap-up by the numbers

By | November 3, 2020
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An infographic depicting highlights of Cybersecurity month by the numbers. Actual numbers are included in the article.

As shown above, highlights of Cybersecurity month include: 9 virtual training sessions covering topics like privacy and data use, using Duo two-factor authentication, data classification, and more 4 virtual drop-in Q&A sessions with security analysts 1000+ people sent and received email with Virtru enhanced email security                                                                            22K+ MiWorkspace and MiServer managed systems have CrowdStrike Falcon installed for enhanced… Read More »

CISO Tuesdays features U-M’s Sol Bermann

By | October 22, 2020
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CISO Tuesdays is a Medium blog, crowdsourced from higher education, that provides a snapshot of a “typical” day for a chief information security officer. Recently, U-M’s own CISO, Sol Bermann, shared a post describing how the pandemic has less changed things in regard to information security and higher ed, but rather simply “made them more.” Entitled My days… Read More »

How to protect your online calls from ‘Zoom-bombing’

By | October 19, 2020
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Zoom logo

The Michigan Daily recently spoke to experts on campus — including Ravi Pendse, vice president for information technology and chief information officer, and Kyle Lindsey and Hanah Stiverson, two doctoral students who are working on a book with Professor Lisa Nakamura about Zoom-bombing — to compile a list of tips to ensure calls for classes or clubs remain… Read More »

SUMIT Reimagined goes online

By | October 15, 2020
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ITS stacked logo

Security at University of Michigan IT (SUMIT) 2020, ITS’s free annual event hosted during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, goes online for SUMIT Reimagined. This series of informational events where members of the U‑M community can get help from IT experts on a variety of topics is entirely virtual this year. Check out a few of the events below and see… Read More »

Course aims to train future leader against cyber crime

By | September 11, 2020
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skull and crossbones over a voting booth

In the course “Cybersecurity for Future Leaders” (EECS 498 / PUBPOL 475), students will gain a better understanding of the science, technology, public policy, and national security considerations behind cybersecurity in order to protect the very tenets of democracy. Election security will be one of the course’s six focus areas this fall 2020. The course is taught from… Read More »

$1.8M DARPA project aims to protect vehicles from hackers

By | August 25, 2020
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Ironpatch logo

From cars to space shuttles to drones, keeping vehicle electronics systems updated and free of security vulnerabilities is exceedingly difficult, according to Baris Kasikci, a professor of computer science and engineering. “It’s a little bit of a mess,” said Kasikci. “Traditionally, you fix the bug in the source code, you rebuild the software and you redeploy it. But… Read More »

Do your part to deflect ransomware

By | August 21, 2020
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padlock with skull image, wrapped in chaines

Ransomware is on the rise and you have an important role to play in protecting U-M!!! Cybercriminals and other threat actors continue to ratchet up ransomware attacks on universities, healthcare providers, and other organizations. This summer Michigan State University and the University of California San Francisco, among others, have reported recent attacks.  Ransomware attempts often begin with a… Read More »

UM-Dearborn’s ‘Blue Bytes’ helping students build cybersecurity skills

By | August 10, 2020
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(Graphic of three people, the one in the middle turned with their back to the camera, interspersed with graphics of a phone, a laptop, and a few keyboard keys.)

Assistant professor of computer science Birhanu Eshete says he didn’t know what kind of response he’d get when fellow professor Di Ma asked if he’d try to get a student organization going to support their burgeoning cybersecurity program. So he started simple, sending out an email inquiry to gauge if there was any interest. Within a couple hours,… Read More »

New collaboration promises greater innovation in medical device security

By | July 28, 2020
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Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the Archimedes Center for Medical Device Security

Two prominent medical device organizations have announced a new collaboration to advance medical device cybersecurity practices across the entire medical device lifecycle. The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the Archimedes Center for Medical Device Security will work together to connect their networks of medical device and health technology management (HTM) professionals across the country.… Read More »

NSF-funded project to focus on improving security, privacy of smart homes

By | June 29, 2020
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Professor Anthongy

Although there are many benefits to the smart internet of things (IoT), like being able to ask a speaker questions and receive immediate answers, security and privacy for these devices remain a challenge.  To address this, a team of researchers from seven universities will work together on a national research project on the life cycle of security, privacy,… Read More »

That text message might be a scam

By | June 9, 2020
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You know to be wary of phishing emails and phone scams, but did you know that crooks also send text messages to steal your identity and money? These scams, called “smishing”—the word comes from SMS + phishing—appear to be increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Warning signs Consider any unexpected text message from an unknown number suspect. Smishes may… Read More »

Write emails that don’t look phishy

By | May 18, 2020
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mail icons floating over aerial photo of central campus

Given the current infodemic related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is harder than ever to get your important university information through to the people who need it. People are rightfully suspicious of unsolicited email, but that can sometimes cause them to ignore or delete your important, legitimate communications. Focus on helping recipients verify the legitimacy of your U-M… Read More »