[CCoE Notice] FW: UIT Security Alert: SPECIFIC UH COMPUTER THREAT

[Luong, Kiet A]

Good morning,

Please take note of the security alert regarding bogus phone calls UH employees are receiving.  Keep in mind no one should be calling you and offering help with computer issues, except from the Engineering Computing Center support staff.  If someone offers help with your computer and you don't know who that person is, please contact us immediately to confirm.

Thank you for your attention.
KL

From: UH IT [mailto:it at uh.edu]
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 9:31 AM
To: Luong, Kiet A
Subject: UIT Security Alert: SPECIFIC UH COMPUTER THREAT


UH Employees - PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A WARNING REGARDING A SPECIFIC THREAT TO UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON COMPUTING SYSTEMS.

UIT Security has received reports of suspicious phone calls received by UH employees that appear to be attempts by hackers to gain unauthorized access to university computers. We also received notification from the State of Texas Chief Information Security Officer that employees at other state agencies are also receiving these calls.

In one incident, the user received a phone call from someone stating that there was a problem with the WiFi in the building and that they needed to "troubleshoot". The caller attempted to get the user to run certain software that would give the caller control of the user's computer. The user was suspicious and hung up on the caller.

Another reported incident was very similar, but this time the caller informed the user that the user's computer had a virus that was broadcasting to other computers and needed to be fixed. He told her that he would help her make the changes to her computer to fix the problems. The user asked the caller for their name and company. The caller did not answer and hung up.

USER ACTION REQUIRED: Do not provide any information regarding university computers or accounts over the phone to people you do not know. University IT staff will not ask you for this information.

If you have concerns about the validity of someone who is contacting you or if have received a phone call such as described above, please report this immediately to UIT Security at security at uh.edu<mailto:security at uh.edu>.

Mary E. Dickerson, MBA, CISSP, CISM, PMP
Executive Director, IT Security
Chief Information Security Officer
University of Houston | University of Houston System
phone: 832-842-4679
email: mdickerson at uh.edu<mailto:mdickerson at uh.edu>


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