ODU Joins Statewide Effort to Promote Cyber-Security Awareness

Gov. Bob McDonnell has proclaimed October as Cyber-Security Awareness Month, and Old Dominion University is joining him in the campaign.

Technology plays a vital role in our daily lives. We use the Internet for a wide variety of things, from keeping contact with friends to managing personal finances. Personally and organizationally we increasingly rely on information systems. At ODU, faculty, staff and students rely on IT to perform the core business of education and research through applications like Blackboard, video streaming of classes and inter-university collaboration via the Internet.

The Internet is not restricted to these productive uses, however. It also provides a powerful vehicle for malicious activity. Cyber-attacks, loss of privacy, identity theft and fraud are serious threats that require vigilance on both an organizational and a personal level. Maintaining our cyber-security requires that each of us plays our part.

ODU's Cyber-Security Awareness campaign seeks to raise awareness throughout the campus community of fundamental computing practices such as password management, routine patching of applications and operating systems, and not getting hooked by spam emails.

How secure is your password? Check out the poster below for some helpful advice.

Throughout October, banners will be displayed in various buildings, informational posters will be distributed and messages will be added to closed-circuit TV programming as reminders that good personal cyber-security practices help protect everyone at ODU.

For more information visit http://www.governor.virginia.gov/OurCommonwealth/Proclamations/2011/CyberSecurity.cfm.