Cybersecurity Awareness Month: protecting our confidential data
Did you know that one of the main causes of data breaches at universities is staff accidentally sending emails to the wrong person?
We understand sometimes you just want to get through your inbox as quickly as possible, but taking the time to make sure you’re sending the right information to the right person is really important in keeping personal data secure.
Read our tops tips on protecting information:
- Always double check who you’re sending emails or Slack messages to. There are lots of people working at the University and email addresses can be very similar, take the time to make sure you’ve got the right recipient.
- Don’t grant share requests to items in your Google Drive if you weren’t expecting them or you don’t recognise the name of the person requesting access. You can check names of staff and the department they work in using the University Directory.
- Share links rather than attachments. The most secure way to share a document is to share the link to the item in your Google Drive, rather than sending it as an attachment. Sharing permissions on links can be removed as necessary but once an attachment has been sent, it cannot be revoked.
- Review sharing permissions on items in your Google Drive. Make sure only the people and groups who need to have access to documents, sheets and slides, do. Be careful when selecting ‘general access permissions’ and check that you haven’t accidentally set view permissions to everyone at the University of ‘anyone with the link.’
If you think you have accidentally shared information or data you shouldn’t have, don’t panic but it is important you let the Information Governance Team know about any potential breaches. This way, they can work to see which information has been accessed, by who and take further steps as needed.
Another important way we keep our information safe is by having Duo two-factor authentication on many of our services. This adds an extra layer of security as it means even if someone knows your password, they won’t be able to access your account. The easiest and most reliable way to receive Duo prompts is to download the Duo app.