Information Security

Mission Statement

The Information Security Office is committed to lowering the risk profile of the University’s electronic information by implementing industry best practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of student, faculty, and staff information. We uphold the University’s compliance obligations by developing information security policies, providing security awareness training, and overseeing the implementation of strategic information security initiatives.

Scam of the Week

World Cup or World-Class Scam?

If you’re a fan of soccer, you’re probably excited for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup! You might want to buy tickets or merchandise, so you search online for the official FIFA website. Eventually, you find a website that seems to be what you’re looking for. It contains what appear to be official FIFA images and logos, and even has an online store. The odd thing is that the store only accepts payment using payment apps or cryptocurrency.

But cybercriminals can use major events like the World Cup to trick you, and the webpage you found is actually fake! If you try to buy anything from this “store,” you’ll be instructed to log in to your FIFA account first. Cybercriminals will steal your login information, and then you’ll be directed to a payment page. Any payments you make will be sent directly to the cybercriminals, and you’ll never receive what you purchased. Even worse, they can use your stolen login information to access your real FIFA account and resell any legitimate World Cup tickets you've already bought!

Follow these tips to avoid falling victim to this scam:

Don't assume that a website is official just because it looks legitimate. Cybercriminals can create convincing fake webpages that look very similar to the real thing.
Be suspicious of any “official” website that only accepts payments from cryptocurrency or payment apps. Most official online shops will offer standard purchasing options.
Trust your instincts. If you see anything that looks unusual about a webpage, such as a suspicious URL or unusual payment options, close out of the page immediately.

Time It Takes a Hacker to Brute Force Your Password in 2025
Hardware: 12 x RTX 5090 | Password hash: bcrypt(10)

Number of Characters	Number Only	Lowercase Letters	Upper and Lower Case Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters, Symbols
4	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly
5	Instantly	Instantly	57 minutes	2 hours	4 hours
6	Instantly	46 minutes	2 days	6 Days	2 weeks
7	Instantly	20 hours	4 months	1 year	2 years
8	Instantly	3 weeks	15 years	62 years	164 years
9	2 hours	2 years	791 years	3k years	11k years
10	1 day	40 years	41k years	238k years	803k years
11	1 week	1k years	2m years	14m years	56m years
12	3 months	27k years	111m years	917m years	3bn years
13	3 years	705k years	5bn years	56bn years	275bn years
14	28 years	18m years	300bn years	3tn years	19tn years
15	284 years	477m years	15tn years	218tn years	1qd years
16	2k years	12bn years	812tn years	13qd years	94qd years
17	28k years	322bn years	42qd years	840qd years	6qn years
18	284k years	8tn years	2qn years	52qn years	463qn years