Email security

Spam

Spam are unsolicited, usually mass-produced messages. Dawson emails are protected with Microsoft EOP, which also blocks the viruses from email attachments. All emails from the College are duly signed, that we never ask for your password, provide a link to change your password, etc. Spam goes to your Junk E-mail folder. In Outlook, right-clicking, ‘junk…

Ransomware

There is a relatively new type of virus called ransomware which as it name implies ask for a ransom after performing a malicious action, which is often to encrypt every file it can access from your account (e.g. the network drives). You typically get infected executing an email attachment, or an infected encrypted file. If…

Phishing examples

These are actual samples of phishing emails received at the College. Please note this list is by no means exhaustive, i.e. if you are unsure about the legitimacy of an email, please contact the Helpdesk. January 2020 How to tell it is phishing: The email, although pretending to come from a Dawson colleague, has a…

Phishing

(this article was adapted from UMass Amherst) What is Phishing? Phishing refers to different types of online scams that ‘phish’ for  your information such as passwords, social insurance number, bank account information, credit card numbers, etc. These messages claim to come from a legitimate source, sometimes even the College or a friend! They may fake…

Email spoofing

E-mail spoofing is a term used to describe fraudulent e-mail activity in which the sender address and other parts of the e-mail header are altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source (from Wikipedia). If you have received undelivered emails warnings regarding email you never sent, it is possible you are the…