Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

As we focus on protecting information during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we are taking this week to highlight the critical role you play in safeguarding our institution's information and the personal data of our students, faculty, and staff. As data breaches and other cyberattacks become ever more prevalent, you can take action to protect your information by implementing a few key cybersecurity practices

Tips for Protecting Your Data

  • Take control of what you share by checking your online accounts' privacy settings. Limit what information people can see, who can see it, and what data is shared with advertisers. To make it easier to find privacy settings on popular services, see this helpful listing.

  • Learn about identity theft and how you can decrease the likelihood of it happening to you.

  • Utilize a free service like Have I Been Pwned to be automatically notified if data associated with your email addresses become involved in a data breach.

Want More Tips?

Technology Services will be offering sessions on Cybersecurity in the Home. Sessions on Google Drive Tips and Tricks will highlight helpful features and best practices for collaboration while protecting data. We encourage you to register for one or both workshops at https://pugetsound.edu/CAM2023. Participants will be entered to win one of several prizes!

Tips for Protecting Institutional Data

  • Always use university-provided accounts, devices, and systems when conducting university business, and keep your personal and professional computing separate.

  • Evaluate your approaches to storing and sharing data.

  • Avoid using email to share sensitive information and only share what is necessary.

  • If you work with student data, review the Education Records Policy and notes on Understanding FERPA.

  • Be aware of specific data retention requirements in your area and consider regularly purging unnecessary data by deleting files or shredding documents.

Together, we can #SecureOurWorld by taking steps to protect our personal information and university data.

Thank you,

Technology Services