OSU Computer Helpdesk

Information Services (the department that the OSU Computer Helpdesk belongs to) has published the first issue of its brand new bi-monthly video newsletter; Codec.  Each issue of Codec will be a short video that highlights a specific way that Information Services contributes to the OSU Community. The first newsletter spotlights the OSU Computer Helpdesk, featuring some of our techs and customers! Check out the video:

The Codec page can be found at http://oregonstate.edu/is/codec-video-newsletter

Check back in April to see the next issue!

I got this email the other day from a Nigerian prince whose sister was married to the late president of Nigeria and needed my help smuggling 35 million dollars out of the country. I knew the email was super important because it was written in all CAPS, which is the equivalent of yelling online. I was also flattered that foreign royalty were aware of my trustworthiness in the matter, so I decided to help the guy… Just Kidding!

We have all received emails like these at some point or another. These are called phishing emails (yep, that’s right, phishing with a P) and they have received quite a bit of attention in the media in the past few years, but hackers have been phishing for personal information since the early days of the internet; I’m talking about the heyday of AOL and dial-up in the mid-90‛s! Phishing can take many forms nowadays:  Emails, instant messages, and even phone calls!

Photo Credit: http://www.devicemag.com

The harm done by responding to a phishing email can range from your email account being spammed to it being hacked and used to spam other accounts, causing you to get locked out of your email account. Never respond to spam email, even if it is just to click the “Unsubscribe” link. Spammers use this link to determine in the email address they are sending to is active or not. You know what that means: Never ending spam. The damage can be much more severe if you share any personal information, like bank account numbers and SSNs. This could lead to financial loss and identity theft! Countless ONID accounts are deactivated every year because the ONID user responded to a phishing email! Don’t let this be you!

Now, I know that the email that I mentioned above was obviously fraudulent and could only lead to trouble but the hackers of the world have wised up to the fact that modern day internet users are more cautious of the information they share over the web. This has driven phishers to create emails that look surprisingly legitimate; including using big company’s logos and pop-up windows, making it harder to recognize what is legit and what is fraud. Here are some examples:

• This phishing email is supposedly from Paypal telling users that their account will expire.

Doesn't look legitimate? (Photo credit:howto.cnet.com)

• This next image is from the Chase website. It is a screenshot of a very convincing pop-up that asks for your banking information.

This is a Pop-up that asks for your Chase Bank information. ( Photo Credit: Chase.com)

• This last image is and email that is trying to get your Ebay account information.

Here are some tips to help you spot and avoid phishing attempts.

1. Who sent the email? Always look at who an email is from. Is it someone you know? Is it a company you trust and do business with? Phishers can fake the email address they are sending from, to give an email authenticity. You can check a sender’s authenticity by looking at the headers of the email. Are some screenshot illustrating how to do this in ONID webmail:

Hover over the "From" email address to see the email address that sent the email. In this case it was legitimately sent from the person in the "From" field.

2. Spelling & Grammar Does the email have poor grammar and spelling mistakes? This is a dead giveaway for a phishing attempt. Spelling and grammar mistakes are extremely unprofessional, large companies employ editors that look over mass emails before they are sent out to avoid embarrassment.

3. Does the email contain a threat? Often time phishing emails have a sense of extreme urgency. A common phishing message is “You email will be deactivate in one day if you do not respond to this message with your username and password.” These kinds of threats are meant to panic user’s into giving their personal information before you can question the legitimacy of the email.

4. Beware of Links! If you don’t trust the origin of the email, do not click on any links within the email! Links can look like they go one place, when they really go another. For example the following link says it’s for Google but it really goes to OSU’s homepage. Check it out: www.google.com

Remember: the OSU Computer Helpdesk will NEVER ask you for your ONID username or password. Your ONID password does expire once a year and when it does we send you directions on how to change the password on your own, without giving us any of your personal information. If you are receiving spam to you ONID or your @oregonstate.edu email accounts, check out the helpdoc article on phishing to find out ow to report it.

Keep these tips mind and you will be less likely to fall prey to a phishing attack.

Have a rough time juggling all of your passwords? Email accounts, school logins, bank accounts; we all have a ton of username and password combinations to remember, and with restrictions required to protect our accounts, it can be downright impossible to remember everything.

A new idea has been cropping up: Passphrases. Rather than using a cryptic word peppered with odd characters and symbols, we recommend trying to use a sentence, or statement. By doing this, you have a longer, more complex password, that is easier to recall!

Mottos, slogans, quotations, quick sayings; these can all prove to be handy passwords. For instance:

• A meaningful statement: “Carpe Diem!”
• directions to a location: “Down Oak, 2nd on the Right”
• What you’re accessing: “Checking my Onid-Mail!”
• Catchy jingle: “I don’t always use passwords, but when I do”

Of course, hackers have been catching onto this. We recommend you try adding personal notes in your passphrases, or adding a special character or two, so that someone can’t just try to enter every quote by Benjamin Franklin to guess your password.

Good Password: “Applause waits on success.”
Better Password: “Applause waits on succes$!”

You can check the strength of your password at our website: http://oregonstate.edu/helpdocs

Have you been keeping up with your computer’s updates? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I know, they take forever. And I bet you keep putting off updates until you get so annoyed by the update reminder that you decide anything is betting than seeing that message again. Right?

Honestly though, sometimes your computer’s problems can be solved in just a few minutes using your computer’s update tools, so it is really important to stay on top of those updates! Both Macs and Windows have updaters installed, it’s just a matter of accessing them.

On a Mac:

Click on the apple in the top left corner of the screen and choose ‘Apple Software Update’ to fully update your computer.

On Windows 7 and Vista:

Go to the start menu and click on all programs, then choose Windows update. Allow it to search for updates and then click on the install button.

On Windows XP
Simply go to update.microsoft.com and check for the latest important updates and install away.

I’m not going to lie: Sometimes downloading and installing updates can take a long time, especially if it is a service pack. For times like those, it is a good idea to start the update process just before you go to bed. That way when you wake up your computer will be all up to date and ready to go! Just make sure that you have the computer in a different room so that the light from the screen doesn’t keep you awake!

Both Macs and PCs also have an Automatic Updates feature, which will let your computer manage downloading and installing updates so you don’t have to spend your nights tossing and turning about your computer being up to date. It is a good idea to have this feature turn, insuring you don’t miss an important update! Here’s how:

For Macs
Go to system preferences and go to the software update pane. Be sure that check for updates automatically is checked, and feel free to change the settings however you want to better fit your needs.

For Windows 7 and Vista
Within the updates tool, there will be a link on the side to configure automatic updates, clicking on this will enable the user to configure options for automatic updates.  Click on change settings and choose your options to enable the automatic updates to your preference.

For Windows XP
Go to the control panel. Click on the system button and go to the automatic updates tab and click to turn on automatic updates.

If you have any questions or concerns about updating you computer, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you!

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