Security

Guides on how to check your antivirus is up to date:

• Norton(Symantec) 
• McAfee 
• Avast
• Kapersky 
• ESET

If you had any of these (or another) products and your subscription has lapsed, do not panic! Windows and Mac devices come with built in security (Windows Defender and macOS security). 

Just remove the lapsed software and ensure that Windows Defender or macOS security is up to date. 

Phishing emails can be very convincing, below are some helpful tips to help you spot a phish:

1. Generic greetings – Instead of an email opening with “Hi Brian!” or “Hello Mr Smith”, the email opens with a generic greeting such as “Dear Customer”. This is because the cybercriminal will often send the email out to thousands of victims at a time.
2. Poor grammar and spelling – This is a dead giveaway. Your bank isn’t going to spell account “acount”. Also, be aware of emails using similar looking characters e.g “ɑʗʗουɳʈ” as crooks often use this method to get around software that scans the content looking for keywords.
3. It doesn’t look right – Is it an offer that is too good to be true? Is it from someone you know but they don’t sound like themselves.
4. URGENT! – Cybercriminals often like to make the email sound important to fool you into taking action before noticing all the problems with the email.
5. Trying to scare you – Cybercriminals use this method to scare you into acting. “Your account has been breached”, “£1568 has been transferred out of your account”.
6. WINNER! – One of the most common phishing emails says you’ve won a prize, all you have to do is reveal personal details about yourself to claim.
7. Specific information about you – Our lives are increasingly becoming entwined with the online world. Don’t be fooled because they know your job title, personal interests and Manager’s name when all that information is on LinkedIn.
8. Links to official looking sites - Does this page look genuine? Well it’s supposed to! Always check the address bar (another top-tip! If you use a password manager and it doesn’t attempt to auto-fill your username and password, then it is probably not the real site!).
9. Squatters – Cybersquatting is when a criminal will purchase domains that are similar to popular domains such as www.microsoft.com vs www.mlcrosoft.com. Always stop and check the address closely
10. “Verify now” – This common phish asks you to verify an account with a site or an organisation. Always question why you have received this – if you weren’t expecting it then there’s a high chance it is a scam.

• If you “logged in” on a suspicious website, then change that password immediately
• Report the incident immediately via the Report a breach form
• If the compromised account could be used to access financial services (bank or student loans), inform them with the details of what has happened
• For all other phishing emails, please use the Report Phish button in Outlook, or forward the email to phishing@surrey.ac.uk.