[ISN] Phishing for Trouble: Officials Use Humor to Promote Cyber Security

http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=9928

By Dan Heuchert
UVA Today
October 6, 2009

If you see someone strolling around Grounds this month in a fish 
costume, think of your computer.

That someone is likely Karen McDowell, an information security analyst 
at the University of Virginia's Information Security, Policy, and 
Records Office. She spells the name of her costume "p-h-i-s-h," after 
the computer "phishing" scams that seek to trick the unwary into giving 
away personal information - and potentially a good portion of their 
savings.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the time of year 
when McDowell breaks out the phish costume and hands out computer 
security literature. But there are serious events planned as well.

A kickoff event will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Newcomb Hall 
South Meeting Room, with opening remarks from state Del. Rob Bell, who 
successfully sponsored a bill to strengthen Virginia's identity theft 
laws. His remarks will be followed by a presentation that includes 
specific suggestions for avoiding identity theft, and information about 
security issues relating to social media, computer and Internet 
security, and the coming rollout of an enhanced NetBadge system at U.Va. 
A free buffet lunch will be available to the first 40 attendees.

Similar presentations will be held on subsequent Thursdays, at staggered 
times: Oct. 15 at noon, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m., and Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. All are 
scheduled for the Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room; snacks and small 
prizes will be provided.

Phishing scams are a real problem on the Internet. Typically, they come 
in the form of an e-mail from an apparently trusted source that prompts 
the recipient to reply with personal data. Some phishing scams readily 
seem to be pretty "fishy" - an e-mail from a bank that holds none of the 
recipient's accounts, or the ubiquitous messages from Nigerian lawyers 
or European lottery officials claiming to be holding large sums of money 
for you, to be released once you provide an account number.

[...]


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