Rice’s Chief Information Security Officer Marc Scarborough warned the campus about online security issues in an email on December 16:
Members of the campus community,
Rice is facing an increased level of sophistication in online security attacks that aim to compromise University accounts and services. With this in mind, the Information Security Office would like to remind the Rice community of steps everyone can take to protect against these attacks:
1. Be vigilant and make sure internet addresses for Rice services are actually Rice domains. Check the email or web address and confirm it includes “.rice.edu” before the first “/”. Also, all Rice systems, like Esther, that ask you to log on will begin with “https” — verify that the web address begins with that before entering any information on a website.
2. If an email asks you to click on a URL to go to Esther — or any other university portal — do not simply click on the link in your email. Instead type the URL in your web browser.
3. If you receive an email attachment you are not expecting, call the sender of the email to confirm it is really from them. Do not open attachments sent from people or email addresses you do not know. Email attachments may contain viruses that can install Trojan software or spy on your online activities.
4. Contact the Information Security Office at 713-348-5735 if you observe any suspicious activity.
In addition to these precautions, the Office of Information Technology will be making upgrades over the winter break to further secure Rice’s email communications. Additional protections will be implemented this spring.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
Marc Scarborough
Chief Information Security Officer