Happy Friday, everyone.

Today I have a couple of important things to share with you. I also have a current threat reminder, as this one just won’t go away.

Important Information

• Graymail/Promotions
  • Earlier this week OneIT (also known as OIT) announced that on 08/26 they would be launching a new way to better manage your email’s inbox.
  • This new management system will automatically redirect certain emails to a separate folder in an effort to keep your inbox free from clutter.
  • The new system will “train” the system how to handle your graymail.
  • Graymail is solicited bulk email, such as newsletters, promotional offers, or notifications, sent by a legitimate sender that you had opted in to receive either knowingly or through a hidden checkbox (this, unfortunately, is considered passive consent because it is a legitimate business).
  • It is different than junk mail, or spam, because these are messages sent from anonymous, untrusted, and often fraudulent sources that you never agreed to receive.
  • You should now have a Promotions folder appearing in Outlook, or a Graymail folder if you are a student using Gmail.
  • Messages considered to be graymail will be sent to the Promotions/Graymail folder and will remain here until you either move them to your Inbox or delete them, which is training the system to know what is important enough to go in your Inbox and what can be deleted before you even see them in the future.
  • I have been a part of the testing of this for over a year now and I want to give you a few tips.
    • Please check the Promotions/Graymail folder regularly, as the emails can add up in an overwhelming manner.
    • If you get a lot of emails that you need to go through, it is easiest to sort by the sender, then move the good senders’ emails to your Inbox and delete the emails from senders you will no longer want to receive.
    • Moving emails from the Promotions/Graymail folder must be moved to only the Inbox or Deleted folders, and moving to any custom folder will not train the system for future emails.
    • If you are not positive if the sender is legitimate, you may ask me first, or you can right-click on the email, go to “Block” and choose “Block Sender”. (Remember that clicking Unsubscribe in a spam/junk email will alert hackers that your email is active, so if you are not 100% positive, it is always best to block the sender.)
    • I have seen some legitimate UT-related emails in the Promotions folder and, in fact, was told yesterday that an email about UT’s open enrollment landed in the Promotions folder.
    • It isn’t perfect, but it does need to be trained, just like the reporting of phishing emails.
    • And I want to tell you than you can move the Promotions folder to another custom folder grouping in your Inbox, but if you do the Promotions folder may revert to its original location. (I learned this from my own experience.)
  • On a side note, don’t forget to review the email in your Junk Email folder, too, as there may be an email from time to time that you want to receive, so just use the Report button and click “Not Junk”.

• UT’s AI Matrix
  • UT has added a web page with a matrix clarifying where UT users may input University data using AI tools.
  • The matrix shows data by its classification, then tells which AI tools can be used for inputting that type of data.
  • There are also examples and clarifications included.
  • Please remember that our data is critical to what we do and we must protect it so don’t use AI tools except as listed on this matrix.
  • You can find the matrix at Guidance Chart for Using AI Tools | Office of Innovative Technologies.
  • Please bookmark this page and refer to it often, as the information is subject to change often as the technologies change.

Current Threat

• Pension and Retirement Planning (phishing emails)
  • Sorry to keep repeating myself on this one, but the supposed pension and retirement consulting emails are continuing.
  • The most common current sender appears to be name[at]mypensioneducation.com, but there are others.
  • The subject is most often UT Annual Pension Review,but this can vary.
  • The messages mention TCRS and ORP, which are valid pension plans.
  • The messages offer a link to schedule a one-on-one consultation, but please do not click it.
  • This companies are not affiliated in any way with UT or the State of Tennessee, as we have only one retirement planning advisor team working with RetireReadyTN.
  • While it has a registered domain, mypensioneducation has been reported by universities across the country as being a scam.
  • Do not click or respond, as any “meeting” you may have is almost certainly being held in order to collect your personally identifiable information.
  • If you receive one of these emails, please use the red Report button to “Report Phishing”.
  • Remember that pension and retirement conversations are extremely personal and you should never share your information with someone you did not seek out yourself.
  • If you want to speak with a pension or retirement consultant outside of UT, that is your choice, but you should do your research.
  • If someone reaches out to you with an unsolicited email, text, or call about pension or retirement, please don’t trust them even if they use the right information, such as TCRS or ORP, because they can easily find what we have online.

I want to thank you all for taking the care to protect the Institute, its data, students, employees, clients, and yourself. When you have questions, concerns, or comments please don’t hesitate to let me know. I am here to help you!

Sandy

Important Note: Thank you so much for sharing these e-newsletters with family, friends, clients, students, and anyone else who may benefit from the information. I would like to stress that you should keep your students in mind, as non-employee students will not get this information without someone sharing. If anyone has an email group for students who are not employees of your department, please let me know what that address is, and I can include it. I do this as a blind copy so student names and addresses will not show up!