Good afternoon, everyone.
This is the final week of 2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is Don’t Make It Easy for Them. By building and repeating strong security habits every day, we can all help make life more difficult for the cybercriminals. Each week this month I have been giving simple tips for how to stay safe online. Today’s topic is Taking Additional Security Steps.
This month I have talked about Passwords and Password Managers; Multifactor Authentication; Reporting Phishing; and Updating Software. All of these things are critical for keeping the Institute’s data and assets secure, as well as your own. But there are additional steps you can take to further protect the data and assets.
- Never click on links that you are not 100% positive are legitimate. Hover over the link and if something looks even slightly off, it almost surely is not legit.
- Never reply to an email that you did not expect, do not know the sender, or does not make sense. Replying confirms that your email is actually monitored by someone (you) and it will likely be flagged for future use by multiple scammers.
- Check the sender’s email address. If it is a Gmail account or other personal account, but the email appears to be about business, then don’t trust it.
- If you receive a text message from someone you do not know, please don’t reply, as this, too, is someone trying to determine if a number is actually used by someone (you) and will be flagged for future use by multiple scammers. Use your carrier’s Report Spam option, where available.
- If you receive a phone call from someone you do not know, do not press any keys, say “yes”, or give any personal information at all. If asked for information, please hang up immediately, then block the number and report the call as spam through your carrier, if that is an option. Be aware that if you argue or talk back, you will likely notice an uptick in future scam and spam calls.
- Replace out-of-warranty devices. UTIA requires that computers must be on a maximum five-year replacement cycle. If a computer is out of warranty, it will likely have issues with firmware, OS, and software updates; will become slower or inoperable; and can cause security and privacy risks.
- Lock your computer when you aren’t going to be sitting right in front of it. Make it a habit to use your keyboard’s “Windows button + L” when you get out of your chair, so you don’t walk too far away and forget.
- Reboot your computer regularly, which means at least weekly (but more often would be better) to ensure available updates and patches will be fully applied as soon as that reboot occurs. If you do have to pause a reboot, please make a point to reboot as soon as you can.
- If you suspect something has happened, please let me know as soon as possible. If you have clicked something, you have a strange popup, or notice anything else that doesn’t make sense, please let me know. I am not here to judge; I am here to help! You can ask me anything at any time!
- Complete your security awareness training if you haven’t already! There is no time like the present to complete the assignment, especially while it is Cybersecurity Awareness Month! UT changed the training provider this year, so it is not the same old modules you have seen before. If you have a problem with the training hanging up, please use either Chrome or Edge since Firefox seems to have occasional issues with some training in K@TE.
I hope that my tips during Cybersecurity Awareness Month have been helpful. You can find all the previous newsletters at https://UTIAsecurity.tennessee.edu. I appreciate everything you do to keep the Institute and its data safe. Please don’t ever hesitate to let me know when you have questions or concerns!
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!
