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

Don’t Talk to Strangers

In this week’s scam, you receive a text message from an unknown number that asks a friendly question, like “Are we still on for dinner?” You may be tempted to reply and let the person know that they have texted the wrong number.

However, this "wrong number" message was actually sent by a cybercriminal, and it's a trick to start a conversation with you! If you reply, they will continue messaging you to build your trust. Eventually, they will turn the conversation to money and might ask you to send them gift cards or offer you an opportunity to invest in cryptocurrency. What they talk to you about varies, but the goal of this "friendship" is to trick you into sending them your money or personal data!

Follow these tips to avoid falling victim to this scam:

Never share your personal or financial information with someone that you have only spoken to through text messages, even if they seem to need money or are offering you an “opportunity.” Scammers frequently use these tactics as a way to trick you into giving them your money or financial information.
If you receive a suspicious text message from an unknown number, don't reply. A reply can let cybercriminals know that your number is active, and you could be targeted in future scams.
If you receive a suspicious text message, use your phone’s settings to mark the message as spam or junk. This action helps your phone carrier identify and block these messages for everyone.

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