Information Security

Mission Statement

The Information Security Office is committed to lowering the risk profile of the University’s electronic information by implementing industry best practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of student, faculty, and staff information. We uphold the University’s compliance obligations by developing information security policies, providing security awareness training, and overseeing the implementation of strategic information security initiatives.

Scam of the Week

Don’t Fall For a Recall

You receive an email that appears to be from Amazon. It states that an item from your recent order has a design defect that could be unsafe and instructs you to select a link to request a refund. The email doesn't give any details about the product or the safety hazard, but if you've ordered from Amazon recently, you might be tempted to select the link to see if something you purchased is affected.

But this email is actually a phishing scam! Cybercriminals send these vague "product recall" emails to as many people as possible, hoping that you recently ordered something from Amazon and will impulsively follow their instructions. If you select the link, it leads to a fake Amazon login page. If you enter your login information, cybercriminals can gain access to your Amazon account!

Follow these tips to avoid falling victim to a phishing scam:

If you receive a product recall notice that appears to be from Amazon, don't select any links in the email. Open the Amazon app or visit the official website to see if the recall is genuine.
Be skeptical of any urgent email that's vague about which product is involved or what the safety issue actually is. This lack of detail is intentional and is designed to trick you.
Remember, cybercriminals use urgency to trick you. If you receive an email that pressures you to act quickly, always stop and think first!

Time It Takes a Hacker to Brute Force Your Password in 2025
Hardware: 12 x RTX 5090 | Password hash: bcrypt(10)

Number of Characters	Number Only	Lowercase Letters	Upper and Lower Case Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters, Symbols
4	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly
5	Instantly	Instantly	57 minutes	2 hours	4 hours
6	Instantly	46 minutes	2 days	6 Days	2 weeks
7	Instantly	20 hours	4 months	1 year	2 years
8	Instantly	3 weeks	15 years	62 years	164 years
9	2 hours	2 years	791 years	3k years	11k years
10	1 day	40 years	41k years	238k years	803k years
11	1 week	1k years	2m years	14m years	56m years
12	3 months	27k years	111m years	917m years	3bn years
13	3 years	705k years	5bn years	56bn years	275bn years
14	28 years	18m years	300bn years	3tn years	19tn years
15	284 years	477m years	15tn years	218tn years	1qd years
16	2k years	12bn years	812tn years	13qd years	94qd years
17	28k years	322bn years	42qd years	840qd years	6qn years
18	284k years	8tn years	2qn years	52qn years	463qn years