Hello, everyone.

Today I want to give you a reminder to be extra cautious during these current times. There is also a very important update to Google Chrome that everyone needs to make sure they have.

Global Threats

• Iranian Cyberattacks
  • The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is working in collaboration with the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3), and the National Security Agency (NSA), and has released information this week urging organizations to remain vigilant against potential targeted cyber operations by Iranian state-sponsored or affiliated threat actors.
  • Iranian government-affiliated actors and hacktivists have been increasing activity over the past several months and this activity is expected to escalate.
  • These cyber actors often exploit their targets based on unpatched or outdated software, or the use of default or common passwords on Internet-connected accounts and devices.
  • CISA, FBI, DC3, and NSA strongly urge users of assets in critical infrastructure sectors (like ours) to do the following:
    • Protect devices and accounts with strong, unique passwords;
    • Apply the latest software patches; and
    • Implement phishing-resistant multifactor authentication for access to operational technology (OT) devices and accounts.
  • In addition, please do not click on any links or attachments in any email or text that you are not 100% certain is legitimate.
  • These things are what we must do every day to protect our accounts and data, but I wanted to remind everyone to keep doing what you know is right.
  • And if you see something that is the least bit questionable, please let me know!

Browser, OS, and Software Updates

• Chrome
  • Google has released a new security update to address vulnerabilities in Chrome.
  • These vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to take control of an affected system.
  • Since your browsers are being managed by UTIA ITS, you should be getting the updates automatically.
  • However, if you do not close your browser regularly, you may not have the latest updates.
  • In your Chrome browser, go to Settings (the three lines in the upper right-hand corner) and scroll down to Help.
  • Click on Help, then click on About Google Chrome.
  • A window will open to show you if your browser is up to date and what version you should have.
  • If you don’t have version 138.0.7204.96 (or higher) for Windows, 138.0.7204.92 (or higher) for macOS, or 138.0.7204.96 (or higher) for Linux, please restart the browser to get the update.
  • And please remember to reboot your browser regularly, as well as your computer, to help ensure you have the latest updates.

Thank you so much for everything you do to protect the Institute and its data, students, employees, clients, and yourself! I hope you all enjoy the long weekend and Independence Day celebrations!

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!