Alert: Secure Your Online Spaces
The transition to online teaching and learning, and remote work in general, has highlighted new cybersecurity challenges and concerns. Among them, the need for campus communities to protect online spaces against hackers, disruptors and others with malicious intentions. Many of you may have heard of ‘Zoombombing,’ online Zoom classes that were disrupted in the past few weeks by individuals spewing racist, misogynistic or vulgar content.
UMass Amherst Information Technology (IT) officials note that just as we are used to locking our doors and securing our physical surroundings, the same due diligence applies to virtual environments. As a community, we need to better secure our online spaces.
IT recommends that students, faculty and staff secure their online meetings, class sessions, recordings or webinars to prevent potential disruptions. Specifically, we encourage you to:
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Become aware of the security and privacy settings of the communication platforms you use (e.g., Zoom, Moodle/Blackboard.)
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Secure your Zoom meetings and recordings to prevent unauthorized access to your online courses, meetings, and cloud recordings. Step-by-step instructions
- Contact the Information Security Office (itprotect@umass.edu) to report unsolicited disruptions to your online events.