The Internet is a phishing pond where students are being hooked into scams, putting them at risk for identity theft.
October's National Cyber Security Month is used to encourage cyber safety awareness among students.
Even social networks like Facebook can put students at risk.
Mark Wilson, manager of network security in the Office of Information Technology, said Auburn University has sponsored the event for four years and has tried to change the theme regularly.
"We try to emphasize protections for your system," Wilson said. "For instance, make sure it's patched where you run the security updates. It's important that you don't ignore those. Virus protection is not really the silver bullet that it used to be."
According to keepitsafe.auburn.edu, last week's theme was, "Don't lose control of your identity to phishing scams."
Other themes include copyright infringement, preventing viruses and being aware of what you post online.
Phishing scams try to acquire valuable information, like banking numbers, usernames and passwords, through deceptive means.
OIT will also be hosting an event to promote student awareness from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 26 in the common area by the Foy Desk on the second floor of the Student Center. They will discuss safe computing and will be giving away free T-shirts.
When it comes to phishing scams, Wilson said at least 80 percent of the compromises come from what they call social engineering techniques.
It involves an e-mail that encourages students to click on something that introduces malware into their systems.
"Auburn University, just like your bank or credit card, will never send an e-mail soliciting your username and password," Wilson said.
Wilson said phishing scams are now at a point where hackers are sponsored by the state.
Wilson mentioned China, India, Brazil and Russia as examples.
"These governments pay," Wilson said. "They know that, in cyber warfare, it's very little investment to launch cyber warfare. They are after money. They are after resources, bank account information, scams, personal information and credit card numbers."
However, Wilson anticipates phishing scams and other identity theft methods to get worse before they get better.
Wilson said part of the challenge with the University is the openness that comes with an academic environment that encourages learning, especially with the amount of research students and faculty do.
Students unknowingly visit unsafe websites while surfing the Web and put themselves at risk for malware and scams.
Kacey Orred, senior in collaborative special education, found herself being targeted by scam artists on a common baby-sitting website.
Orred came across a fake posting on the website looking for a baby sitter.
The posters claimed to live in Canada and that they were in the process of moving.
They asked Orred to cash out their check and wire money back.
"It seemed out of the norm when they said they were going to send me all this money and that they wanted me to send them back some," Orred said. "That just didn't make any sense to me."
Orred reported the post to the website, and the person was deleted.
Wilson said the best way to prevent yourself from falling for a scam is to watch what information you post online.
Wilson also encouraged a unique password.
"Choose a password that's at least 10 characters, and you have both mixed case and characters," Wilson said.
Regardless how careful people may be, they should be aware of possible scams.
"Be wary," Orred said. "If it seems like it's too good to be true, it probably is. Just know exactly what you're getting yourself into before you send any personal information at all."
Prevention is the best way to handle cyber security problems.
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