Information Security

Mission Statement

The Information Security Office is committed to lowering the risk profile of the University’s electronic information by implementing industry best practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of student, faculty, and staff information. We uphold the University’s compliance obligations by developing information security policies, providing security awareness training, and overseeing the implementation of strategic information security initiatives.

Scam of the Week

The Reply Trap

A text lights up your phone screen from a number you don't recognize, saying, "Hey, are we still on for dinner tomorrow?" The message is clearly meant for someone else, but it seems ordinary and friendly. Since it feels rude not to respond, you consider sending a quick reply just to let the sender know they've got the wrong person.

But that seemingly harmless text is actually a trap set by cybercriminals! Scammers rely on your reply to mark you as an easy target. Your reply confirms to cybercriminals that your number is active, and then they'll sell it on the dark web to other scammers. Once your phone number appears on one of these dark web lists, you might see more scam texts or calls in the future!

Follow these tips to avoid falling victim to this smishing, or text phishing, scam:

If you receive a suspicious text, mark it as spam or junk and block the sender’s number. These actions also help your phone provider flag and block similar messages for other users.
Avoid sharing your phone number publicly. The less accessible your number is, the harder it is for cybercriminals to find and target it in the first place.
You may think replying to these kinds of texts is friendly, but it could mark you as a target for future scams. Always stop and think before you respond!

Time It Takes a Hacker to Brute Force Your Password in 2025
Hardware: 12 x RTX 5090 | Password hash: bcrypt(10)

Number of Characters	Number Only	Lowercase Letters	Upper and Lower Case Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters, Symbols
4	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly
5	Instantly	Instantly	57 minutes	2 hours	4 hours
6	Instantly	46 minutes	2 days	6 Days	2 weeks
7	Instantly	20 hours	4 months	1 year	2 years
8	Instantly	3 weeks	15 years	62 years	164 years
9	2 hours	2 years	791 years	3k years	11k years
10	1 day	40 years	41k years	238k years	803k years
11	1 week	1k years	2m years	14m years	56m years
12	3 months	27k years	111m years	917m years	3bn years
13	3 years	705k years	5bn years	56bn years	275bn years
14	28 years	18m years	300bn years	3tn years	19tn years
15	284 years	477m years	15tn years	218tn years	1qd years
16	2k years	12bn years	812tn years	13qd years	94qd years
17	28k years	322bn years	42qd years	840qd years	6qn years
18	284k years	8tn years	2qn years	52qn years	463qn years