Across the Mississippi State University campus this week, events promoting the university’s eighth annual Cyber Security Awareness Week promoted safety online to students, faculty and staff.
Every October MSU hosts their cyber security week in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Cyber Security Month.
Each of the event’s seminars highlight a different threat for individuals and how they can better protect themselves from threats they may encounter online. Among the topics the seminars discussed include: cyber security, cybercrime, phishing and cyber threats.
For those who may have missed these events, there will be an additional event on campus Oct. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Colvard Student Union’s Foster Ballroom U. The free event presented by Whole Child Initiative with a grant provided by the United Way of North Central Mississippi aims to inform about the dangers of predators and bullies that exist online.
Richard Guerry, a digital safety expert, will be the event’s featured speaker. Guerry will speak on a wide range of topics aimed at preventing cyber bullying, inappropriate photos, the careless use of apps and poor social media behaviors and attitudes.
The event’s target, digital awareness and safety online, seeks to supply educators, youth advocates and those with families the resources they need to combat the dangers that exist in the digital realm.
Kellum Kim, director of Marketing Whole Child Initiative, a program of the Columbus based Palmer Home, which focuses on the physical, spiritual, emotional and educational well-being of children, said the event allows her organization’s reach to go farther than it otherwise could go on its own.
Poor social media behaviors and attitudes are something Kellum said anyone can improve on and should think seriously about before posting anything online.
“You don’t think about your digital footprint or digital trail that you leave behind,” Kellum said. “Nor the impact that a post on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter has. Once it’s there, it’s there.”
Thomas Ritter, MSU’s Security and Compliance Officer, said the technical work he does on campus protects MSU’s campus, its reputation and students’ data. One of the cyber threats he works closely with on campus is phishing. Phishing occurs when people click links in email and have personal information stolen from fake websites.
 
Ritter said phishing affects just about everyone from MSU’s students, faculty, staff and administration.
Because phishing has become a constant problem, Ritter said the university has begun keeping records. Every week phishing attacks happen, sometimes multiple attempts a day.
Ritter said the phishing emails he sees today have gotten more sophisticated than the ones in years past. Many of these emails ask users to verify their account by telling them they have overreached their email quota. 
Ritter said awareness is the key to protecting oneself of the dangers that exist online. Without awareness of those risks Rittersays, people can fall victim to problems like phishing.
If a person suspects a suspicious email, Ritter said they should forward it to the help desk of the information technology services on the university’s website.
“Be a skeptic,” Ritter said. “Is this message real?”
Besides emails, Ritter said the same goes for websites. People do not take much stock in their usernames and passwords, but he thinks they should.
“There’s value to a person’s identity,” Ritter said. “There’s value to a person’s username and password.”
Ritter said online marketplaces exist which thrive in the selling of personal information. 
However, Ritter said phishing and identity theft are not the only danger faced by computer users. One of the emerging threats he sees more and more of, is ransomware. 
Ransomware, a type of malware, encrypts a user’s computer files resulting in the user no longer having access to them. As its name implies, ransomware works a lot like kidnapping. To get the files back, the user must pay the individual holding the files monetarily, usually through a payment service like Bitcoin which cannot be traced. Even when that person pays the ransom, they are not always guaranteed their files back.
Therefore, Ritter encourages everyone to regularly back up their files to avoid becoming a victim. Doing simple things like backing up your computer as well as awareness about the dangers online, can help avoid future problems from occurring.