St. Catharines university warning all to be wary of looming cyberattacks

While the Russian invasion of Ukraine is on the other side of the world, Brock University is warning its students, faculty and staff – and by extension, the rest of Niagara – to be wary of potential cyberattacks.

The university is warning students on its St. Catharine and Thorold campuses about the threat because Russia has threatened retaliatory measures against countries that have hit them with sanctions. Canada is, of course, one of many nations that has done so.

Cyberattacks against organizations’ critical infrastructure, such as information assets, systems and networks, is a fairly common Russian means of disrupting western countries’ well-being, as they see non-Communist lifestyles as a threat to their own.

To that end, the Brock University Information Technology Services (ITS) “is advising students, staff, faculty and librarians to be wary of odd emails, texts, files and links they receive.”

To that end, the university’s IT squad is offering up tips for preventing cyberattacks:

• Always install anti-virus software and keep anti-virus software updated.
• Make sure to backup important information.
• Avoid suspicious websites or application sources.
• Do not open attached files from unknown sources.
• Be wary of downloading and using any software to your devices.
• Be wary of emails urging you to open, reply or click something.
• Be wary of emails offering employment offers or deals that may seem too good to be true.
• Be wary of clicking any website links.
• Before clicking on links, always check the destination of the link by hovering over it with a mouse, or if on mobile, doing a long press over the link.
• If something seems odd, trust your instincts and confirm with others.