Good morning!

In this edition of This Week’s Cybersecurity News, I want to tell you about a new phishing scam that you really must be aware of at this time of year, in particular. I have also included information about some new updates that you need to be certain you have.

Current Threats

• Paycheck Adjustment (phishing email)
  • The sender appears to be CALEIGH LEE (via Google Docs) <drive-shares-dm-noreply@google.com>.
  • The subject is Document shared with you: “Departmental July Paycheck Adjustment.docx”
  • The actual content shows that Caleigh Lee <callee@dcpsnet.org> has shared a document with you on behalf of a department head.
  • The content adds that you need to verify your email to securely view this document and that you will need to verify every 7 days.
  • There is a link to “Learn more.”
  • PLEASE DO NOT CLICK!
  • These emails are NOT from your department head, dean, director, or anyone else at UTIA or UT, nor on behalf of someone at UTIA or UT.
  • Please note that the “From” address includes a “no reply” in the address.
  • I did a search on the entire address and found many warnings this specific one is being used for this new Google Drive scam.
  • I did a search on “dcpsnet.org” and the domain is tied to Dinwiddie County Public Schools in Virginia.
  • I also did a search in the UT directory for Caleigh Lee and she does not exist.
  • I have let the department head who was named in this email know about the email and, of course, he verified he had not seen the email before and did not send it.
  • I also let those who received the email know right away that this was a scam, but I cannot say for certain that it hasn’t happened or won’t happen to another department.
  • This is particularly concerning to me because of the timing since potential annual salary adjustments are done in July and/or August.
  • Salary adjustments may vary from department to department, but they will not be shared in a method such as this one.
  • If you receive an email like this, or any other suspicious email, please report it using the Reporting Phishing Attempts instructions.

Browser, OS, and Software Updates

• Microsoft
  • Microsoft has released updates to address multiple vulnerabilities in most Microsoft software.
  • Exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information.
  • Updates are being automatically pushed to Institute-owned computers.
  • If you have recently clicked to have your computer restart later to finish these updates, please make sure you reboot right away to ensure all available updates have been applied.

• Adobe
  • Adobe has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple products.
  • Please make sure you have applied all available updates for all Adobe products.
  • Exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to take control of an affected device.
  • Updates are being automatically pushed to Institute-owned computers.
  • If you have recently clicked to have your computer restart later to finish these updates, please make sure you reboot right away to ensure all available updates have been applied.

• Firefox
  • Mozilla has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in Firefox.
  • These vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to take control of an affected system.
  • Since our browsers are being managed by UTIA ITS, you should be getting the updates automatically.
  • If you do not completely close your browser regularly, you may not have the latest updates.
  • In your Firefox 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 Firefox.
  • 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 Firefox 115.0.2, please restart the browser to get the update.

Thank you all so much for everything you do every single day to protect the Institute and its data. And a special thanks to all those who so quickly notify me when a new scam is being sent. Please let me know any time you have any questions or concerns when it comes to IT security!

Have a great rest of the week!

Sandy